DEARBORN — In the wake of last week’s murder-suicide involving two students at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, crime in the city has been a hot topic.

Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad

While the shooting was tragic, Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said that residents shouldn’t be worried about the shooting being a part of any sort of trend.
“It was an isolated and unfortunate event, really,” he said. “In this case, people saw some strange behavior and called and did all the right things.”

Haddad said he can’t get into what sort of behavior they saw because the department is currently in the process of backtracking and reviewing 911 calls for witnesses and things of that nature, but he emphasized that the odds of such an event happening again anytime soon are slim.

Haddad also emphasized that crime in the city in general is down compared to last year.

“Since the first of the year I want to go on record as saying that overall, crime is down in Dearborn statistically,” he said.

However, despite the overall decrease, crimes of larceny, burglary, and property crimes are up in the city as well as nationally, which Haddad attributed to the poor economy.

Recently, ADC Dearborn Regional Director Imad Hamad had his 1997 Jeep Cherokee stolen at Reuter and Warren Avenue in Dearborn after spending about 15-20 minutes in the Harb’s Imports store.

Hamad was surprised by two main aspects of the incident.

“What’s puzzling is how fast it happened and it was stolen from one of the busiest corners in the area,” Hamad said. “I had a car alarm and my doors were locked so how they did it beats me. It’s very sad that this is happening.”

Dearborn police said that the campuses of Henry Ford and Michigan-Dearborn as well as Fairlane Mall have been targeted by a car theft ring targeting mainly older Honda and Chrysler models. The police told Hamad that the theft of his car was consistent with recent cases.

Haddad talked about what the community can do to help keep property safe.

“We want to generate citizen support and awareness to better protect and look out for each other,” said Haddad. “We’re emphasizing the Neighborhood Watch program and also taking proactive measures to get the bad guys off the streets.”

Burglaries are up 15% so far to over a hundred this year, but Haddad said the numbers are skewed by the amount of people breaking into abandoned homes for stripping copper and other valuable materials to sell.

Other burglaries and larcenies can be prevented at times according to Haddad.

“The larcenies appear to be predicated on opportunity, oftentimes people don’t lock their cars or some of the homes burglarized have had soft or unlocked doors,” he said.

Haddad also cautioned senior citizens against allowing contractors or utility companies into their homes unless they are asked for the proper identification. He also noted that most companies that need access to the interior of a home call ahead. Many scams against senior citizens are committed at night.

Dearborn’s police department is taking steps to ensure that officers are aware of the complex problems posed by economic conditions and other challenges regarding the community, including Haddad’s three-day, eight hour service training program that covers everything from ethics expectations and diversity to traffic safety and other issues. The program runs for four more weeks and all city personnel including firefighters will be covered by the time the program ends.

“We’re trying to improve the awareness and talents of our personnel and to raise our awareness and efficiency to a higher level,” said Haddad about the program.

“We’re really proud of everyone who is involved.”

As for citizens, Haddad emphasized their continued awareness.

“The most important part is for citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity, that pays great dividends in making crimes of opportunity much harder to perpetrate.”