Detroit continues to crumble

  Detroit, a few decades ago the wealthiest city in the United States, is closing its police precincts from 4 p.m. until 8 a.m.

These changes, the memo says, include eliminating several job assignments from each command and platoon: Report clerk, desk clerk, Law Enforcement Information Network operator, security officer, timekeepers, vehicle and building maintenance officers and property officer.

The memo says that as of Feb. 6, all district and precinct investigative operations will be consolidated into the Central District station under one command titled Criminal Investigations.

  Citizens will be able to reach officers by phone. 
  Arguments are ongoing regarding appointing a state financial manager for the bankrupt and deeply in debt city.
  Detroit has 40 unions; negotiations with those 40 unions are the problem. All day it has been reported that "progress" is being made that will prevent appointment of a state manager.

"The frustrating part is everything is going so slow," said one source. "There has to be something presented to the governor ASAP. If we don't get the uniformed folks to sign off on the concessions, it's game, set, match."
Another source described the meetings — sometimes held in person or over the phone and geared toward specific issues — as "complicated," but hopes are high agreements can be reached on concessions on health care, wages and work rule changes.

  The legacy costs of those unions are enormous, as reported at The Freep:

The report pegged the city's long-term debt, including unfunded pension liabilities, at more than $12 billion. That's $2 billion higher than Dillon's estimate when he asked for the preliminary review earlier this month.
Mayor Dave Bing pledged continued cooperation with the state but said the report told him nothing he doesn't already know and insisted his plan would right the city's finances. 

Last year, the city -- whose three biggest revenue sources for its general fund total $538 million -- spent more than $597 million just to make debt payments, the report said.

  On the up side, the state may soon be declaring an $800 million general fund surplus since its election of Republican Rick Snyder.
  Of course, the unions will be eying that money.
  BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) activist group was protesting a library closure today by 7 Mile. The activists claim, accurately no doubt, that the library is an essential part of the neighborhood that offers respite to children both through shelter and access to the internet for school assignments.
  Though the activists' complaints are undoubtedly accurate, unfortunately their approach is, of course, that the closure is "racist."

"I know mine is next if this one closes," she said, as protesters chanted "Hey, hey, ho, ho, these racist cuts have got to go!"

"They're going to keep going," she said about the cuts. "We have to draw the line somewhere."

Smith said that the cuts are hard to fathom as patrons watch federal bailouts of banking systems and tax breaks for wealthy taxpayers. Driver said BAMN has also offered volunteers to run the library and a fund-raising effort to pay the library's estimated $60,000 annual operating costs.

"We see this as a real attack on the city and an attack on the city of Detroit," Smith said. "I think the real reason they're closing libraries is to break the spirit of the people of Detroit."

  Apparently the activists do not understand that there is no more money, that Detroit is bankrupt.
  More library closures are planned. 
  Occupiers have moved into the building to "save" it.
  BAMN's "about" page reads this way:

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) is building the new civil rights movement. We are a primarily student- and youth-based organization of leaders in our schools and communities, committed to making real the promises of American democracy and equality

  And:

iBAMN is building the movement to end Jim Crow, second-class treatment of black people and other minorities and immigrants, documented and undocumented. We are building a united mass, integrated civil rights movement that will unite black and brown, gay and straight, to win full freedom and equality for all. We are fighting to defend public education, to defeat budget cuts for education, to defend public jobs and public services, to win college financial aid and citizenship for undocumented immigrant students, and  to make every school, college, city, municipality and state a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. BAMN is also fighting to build a new, international youth leadershipfor the environmental movement. 

  While their very title suggests a moral ambiguity about breaking the law, BAMN has been criticized for their behavior, which resembles ACORN in some ways. From Ballotpedia:

 BAMN has been active in Michigan in claiming that some of the signatures collected in a 2005 petition drive to collect signatures to place the Michigan Civil Rights Amendment, Proposal 2 (2006)on the 2006 ballot were collected fraudulently when signature gatherers erroneously claimed that the measure promoted affirmative action. Although the MCRI passed in November 2006, BAMN has continued to pursue legal challenges in court.
Opponents of the group have criticized BAMN for tactics allegedly used during its rallies such as verbally assaulting people who disagree with their political program. The group has also been criticized for busing in students from the Metro Detroit area to BAMN protests. 

The American Civil Liberties Union has reported that the FBI has investigated BAMN for potential involvement in unspecified "terrorist activities." According to the FBI, the group's protests were discussed in a meeting about terrorist activities.^[1],^[2]