BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — The placement of a new police squad has led to multiple arrests in Benton Harbor, Michigan State Police says.
In hopes of quelling the city’s substantial crime rates, the Fifth District Crime Prevention Squad (DCPS), a unit of the MSP, was placed in Benton Harbor in April. Over the course of a few months, the unit has worked to reduce crime and build positive relationships between the Benton Harbor community and police, they report.
The group confiscated nine firearms and arrested six suspects in a two-week span.
Three of the confiscations were in a single traffic stop on June 26, where one suspect was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and two occupants fled on foot.
On June 17, the DCPS also worked in collaboration with the Benton Township Police on an armed robbery investigation at the AT&T and T-Mobile stores.
The suspects reportedly took multiple phones from the stores without knowing there was an active tracking device on one of them. The robbery turned into a car chase, with the suspects in stolen vehicles, that allegedly ended in an accident. The suspects were arrested by DCPS and Benton Township, and the phones were recovered.
On June 24, the Squad assisted Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety with a shooting investigation as well. Over the past four weeks, MSP reports that the DCPS made arrests for the following:
- Six arrests for carrying concealed weapon original charges (felony)
- One arrest for possession of cocaine original charge (felony)
- Four arrests that satisfied felony warrants, including one each for assault with intent to commit bodily harm, resisting & obstructing police causing injury, conditional bond release and unknown felony warrant generated from the Lansing area
- One arrest that satisfied a misdemeanor warrant
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