Detroit, Michigan – Mayor Mary Sheffield has taken another step toward changing how the city of Detroit handles public safety. She has signed her second executive order to set up the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety. The new agency is meant to build on what officials say are historic drops in violent crime and make efforts to stop violence more successful across the city.
The order, which goes into effect on April 7, sets up a central hub in municipal government that will focus on prevention, coordination, and community partnerships. Teferi Brent, a longtime community leader and advocate, will be the director. The Hudson-Webber Foundation is giving $200,000 to the project to assist build a safer infrastructure that is more community-driven and cohesive.
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City officials say now is a very important time for the transition. In 2025, Detroit had huge drops in all major crime categories, with murders, nonfatal shootings, and carjackings hitting new all-time lows. Sheffield said that such outcomes prove that success is attainable when neighborhoods, city departments, and community partners all work together. She stressed that keeping those advantages will take more cooperation and coordination at the community level.
The new office will contain current Community Violence Intervention programs, such as ShotStoppers, which uses community-led, evidence-based methods to stop violence and link people with supports. It will also be in charge of Ceasefire’s efforts to stop group violence and survivor advocate services that help crime victims with emotional, practical, and legal issues.
Addressing domestic and intimate partner violence will be a top concern. City records reveal that these kinds of instances made up 17% of Detroit’s murders last year. Officials said that the office will leverage what it learns from existing violence intervention programs to deal with this cause of suffering, which is often overlooked. Some of the planned strategies are to teach people how to have good relationships, offer more resources that focus on victims, and start conflict resolution and restorative practice programs in neighborhoods.
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Another job will be to evaluate and improve reentry services for adults and teens to help them avoid committing crimes again. The office will work with schools, hospitals, law enforcement, social assistance providers, public health agencies, and community groups to make sure that all of their initiatives are in sync and responsive.
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Safety wants to make communities safer by concentrating on prevention, developing trust, and holding people accountable. They also want to strengthen the partnerships that city leaders say have helped Detroit make progress in the past few years.