THE NEIGHBORHOOD: SHOOTINGS, RAIDS A PART OF LIFE

Residents Say They Are Worried About Their Kids And Inaction Of Police

DETROIT -- Shawn Thomas was not shocked Wednesday by the shoot-out that
killed one man and injured three Detroit narcotics police officers in her
southwest Detroit neighborhood.

"Gunshots and drug busts have become a part of our everyday life," said
Thomas, 28. "We're so used to hearing (gunshots) that we worry when we
don't." Thomas lives on Springwells, just blocks from where the shootings
took place. She worries her two young children may one day be caught in a
cross-fire. Thomas said she would move to a better neighborhood "if I could
afford it." "The city has got a bad reputation," she said. "The violence is
making people leave and that's why we have a lot of abandoned houses."

Detroit police are overlooking the southwest side because they don't want
to deal with its problems, she said. "Instead of making all of Detroit
good, they only want to worry about the pretty side," she said. "They need
to go to the worst side and work their way up to the good areas." It's a
feeling shared by Edwardo Guitierrez, a 34-year-old mechanic. "If the cops
aren't killing (kids) on the streets, they're killed by gang members or
drug dealers," he said. "I am a parent and working to clean up the streets
so my two kids can have a violent-free life. They have questions just like
everyone else. I don't have the answers as to why they have to grow up
living this way."

Guitierrez has lived in his southwest Detroit neighborhood for 24 years. He
said he has watched friends, neighbors and strangers gunned down in broad
daylight. "The city does nothing for the kids," he said. "We got nothing
and the city isn't giving us anything. Try explaining to your 7-year-old
why we have to put milk crates up on trees just to play basketball."

Wednesday's shooting was a wake-up call for many southwest Detroit
residents who said they are determined to take back control of their
streets -- a task some fear will take a long time to accomplish.

"People's lives are over because they live in the ghetto," said Juan
Martinez, 24. "It's a never-ending story. You just have to do what you can
to survive. The streets are mean and so is life." William Poma, 44,
remembers growing up on the southwest side when it was safe to play
outside. "When I grew up in this neighborhood, it was very beautiful," he
said. "Now it's bad and has nothing to offer. "It's gotten to the point
where I have to move out. I can't raise my family in a drug and
gang-infested neighborhood. I worry about my son. I don't want him to think
this is how life should be. I never was up with this sort of lifestyle and
I don't think I want my son to be a part of it either."

Copyright 1998, The Detroit News