No crime surge in Detroit despite 690 police layoffs

Police Sunday reported no significant increase in violent crime despite the layoff of 690 officers Friday. The layoffs, designed to save the city $27.6 million over the next 10 months, involved nearly 1 of every 7 on the force. Since October, 1,100 officers have been laid off by the city in a move that Mayor Coleman A. Young, a black, says could virtually wipe out five years of affirmative-action gains in the department. An 11th-hour meeting between Young and the president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, failed to produce any major agreement on alternatives to the layoffs.