Earlier during the 1967 Detroit Riots African Americans fell victims to a discrimination-fueled police raid, and retaliated accordingly.
“Detroit policemen attacked an after hours drinking bar at 12th Street on Sunday morning. Detroit Policemen arrested all the people who attended the bar that one Sunday morning which infuriated a crowd outside of the bar. The crowd began throwing bottles at the Detroit Policemen in rage. An angry crowd threw empty bottles at the Detroit policemen and were injured during the scene. Detroit’s Mayor Jerome Cavanagh asked Governor George Romney of Michigan to send additional state police officers. Governor Romney sent three-hundred police officers and requested six-hundred Michigan Army National Guardsmen to Detroit” (Steckroth).
“Closed shops and businesses were raided in Detroit, when looting began on 12th Street. Every policeman and fireman in Detroit was called on to duty on mid morning. 12th Street officers of Detroit battled to control the mob. Also Detroit’s firemen that were called in that night were attacked as they tried to fight the flames” (1967 Detroit Riots).
The Street Decoy Program was known as Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets also nicknamed Stress. In the early 1970's police officers would be undercover in high crime areas in Detroit where they would trap robbers as an experiment. Two and a half years later, Stress officers from Detroit murdered twenty-two people, and all of them were African American. Mayor Young, an African American won for mayor in a big victory over his opponent John F. Nichols who was a former Police commissioner because of African American voter hostility to Stress and to police operations. Once Mayor Young was elected into office as mayor, he got rid of the Stress act and started to hire African American police officers and promoted those who had been left to decay in the ranks (Holusha).