Detroit ― Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield outlined Tuesday her youth-centered anti-crime initiative with summer programs and activities specifically for the city’s youth, including the revival of “midnight basketball” at the suggestion of a youth council.
The programming, called “Occupy the Summer,” references a previous Sheffield initiative, “Occupy the Corner,” from her time on the City Council. “Occupy the Summer” will be an expanded version of the previous initiative, the first-term mayor said at a press conference held at the Adams Butzel Complex Tuesday morning.
“Every single Friday, we have activations all across the city where we will be providing entertainment, job opportunities, minor felony expungement, access to housing and a myriad of resources to get our young people engaged and occupied,” Sheffield said.
The Friday events will include a summer kickoff on June 12, a Juneteenth celebration, bike rides and more, the mayor said.
Sheffield also announced the city would be bringing back “midnight basketball” at several recreation centers. Detroit residents ages 18 and older can register to play in one of three areas of the city and play in late-night games for seven weeks, according to the city. All registered players get basketball shoes, a jersey and are assigned to a team in their neighborhood league.
They can compete for the opportunity to represent their neighborhood in the Occupy the Summer Championship in August. Along with the basketball league, there will be opportunities for mentorship and job training.
Midnight basketball was an initiative in urban areas pushed by President Bill Clinton during the 1990s when crime reached a plateau. It was criticized at the time by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, as wasteful and ineffective, and the number of leagues eventually subsided. Some cities, including Akron, Ohio, revived the idea in 2019 and 2020.
The press conference was attended by city officials, members of Sheffield’s administration and sponsors of the initiative.
“As the temperatures rise, our children, our seniors, our community, everyone is wanting to come outside,” Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said. “But we also know that when folks are out engaging, and it’s more active, we see year after year, gun violence and violence in general start to rise.”
Sheffield said the return of midnight basketball and more activities for the city’s children were recommendations from the city’s newly formed Youth Advisory Board.
“The main thing that we hear from young people is they want safe spaces to be occupied and engaged,” Sheffield said after the press conference. “We’re still incorporating more things that we’re hearing from them as well, some of the programming on Fridays is what we heard directly from young people.”
In mid-April, Sheffield and Bettison unveiled a six-point “community safety plan” that is heavily focused on fostering relationships between the police and the city’s young people. The city’s homicides and violent crimes have been declining in recent years.
Two new initiatives included in the plan are the creation of Neighborhood Safety Action Teams to identify problems and a Conflict Resolution & Restorative Practices Task Force. The plan’s four other parts are a “DPD Safe Summer Strategy” that targets drag racing, drifting, block party compliance and crowd control; youth-centered activations; a gun storage and safety campaign; and after-hours engagement and enforcement.
Sheffield and Bettison have been praised and criticized for their reaction to a “teen takeover” of part of downtown that coincided with the Detroit Tigers’ April 3 home opener at Comerica Park. Following the takeover, the mayor and police chief held a press conference with the organizers of the event and vowed to provide more constructive activities for the city’s young people.
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Sheffield revives Detroit’s midnight basketball in summer programs for kids
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
