The images coming out of downtown Detroit over the past few weeks are a warning light on the city’s dashboard. Hundreds of teenagers swarming intersections, the crack of gunfire near Campus Martius and businesses forced to lock their doors aren’t just “youthful indiscretions” — they are a direct challenge to the rule of law.
As we look toward the summer of 2026, Detroit faces a choice. We can follow the path of cities like Seattle, whose 2020 “Summer of Love” became a national punchline for what happens when leadership abdicates its responsibility to keep order. Or we can return to the “Detroit Standard:” a no-nonsense approach that proves you can be pro-resident and pro-business without being “anti-youth.”
In my years leading through crisis, I learned that leadership is the parent of order. If the city appears permissive, it invites escalation.
We saw this play out in 2020. While other major American cities were being hollowed out by chaos, Detroit held the line. We did not do it by being “tough” for the sake of it; we did it by being decisive. We set a tone that made it clear: Detroit is a place of progress, not a playground for lawlessness. I dive deep into the mechanics of this philosophy in my book, “Beyond the Badge … Leadership Lessons from a Life in Law Enforcement,” where I argue that the primary duty of any leader is to provide a predictable, safe environment where the community can thrive.
Setting that tone today requires more than just “Youth Advisory Boards” or “safe space” websites. It requires a strategy of swift and certain consequences.
Take, for example, our response to the “drifting” and “sideshow” epidemic. We didn’t just issue citations that could be ignored; we seized the tools of the chaos. When a vehicle is impounded, the clout ends immediately. The same logic must apply to these teen takeovers. If there is no immediate, tangible consequence for shutting down a city street, then the social media reward for doing so will always win.
Furthermore, we must win the “digital battlefield.” These takeovers are not spontaneous; they are choreographed on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. In 2020, we used technology to monitor these platforms in real-time, allowing us to be at the intersection before the first car arrived. Leadership is not about managing a crisis after the 911 calls start flooding in; it’s about pre-empting the chaos through intelligence and proactive deployment.
Critics will say this approach is too harsh. I argue that the alternative is far more devastating. Allowing hundreds of teenagers to gather in high-tension, unmanaged environments is a recipe for tragedy — not just for the public, but for the youth themselves.
We cannot allow the hard-won revitalization of our downtown core to be sabotaged by a “wait and see” management style. Our small business owners, residents and our visitors deserve a city that is governed by the law, not by the latest viral trend.
Detroit did not burn in 2020 because we refused to yield the “tone-setting” responsibility to the loudest voices in the street. In 2026, we must have the courage to do the same. It is time to stop negotiating with chaos and start ensuring that Detroit is still the hardest place in Michigan to break the law.
James E. Craig has 44 years of law enforcement service. He served 28 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and is former chief of police with Portland, Maine, Cincinnati, Ohio and Detroit. He is also a former GOP candidate for Michigan governor and Detroit mayor.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit’s teen takeovers require real consequences | Craig
Reporting by James Craig / The Detroit News
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