Sheriff Pickell Talks Crime in Flint [Audio]

Even though it's been a few weeks since we were listed as the most dangerous city by the FBI, I wanted to talk with Sheriff Pickell to get his thoughts on our new title. He has an interesting perspective on the issue and also talks about what they're doing to try to restore Flint.

When I talked to the sheriff earlier, I asked him if it was still relevant to talk about our latest review about being the most dangerous city and he said it was still top of mind. I asked him how he felt about the title and this was his first thought:

"Unfortunately, we earned it as the commercial said. It's kind of  sad when you look around at Flint, drugs and gangs have over taken the entire city and that happens for a lot of reasons."

The sheriff went on to explain that there is a huge gang problem in the city and said their main enterprise is drugs. Pickell also said that unfortunately these problems have happened over a long period of time, but they're still working on trying to restore the city.

Pickell also talked about what they are doing to try to prevent more crimes from happening:

"We've got the Safe Streets task force working out of the FBI. They work with gangs and violent crime and that's where our emphasis has to be. They're out there every day putting cases together. And then my drug team- Posse and FANG are working there."

Sheriff Pickell says it's the people that really make Flint and Genesee County and says we are going to rebound and make a come back.

On a side note, I asked the sheriff where he likes to hang out and one of his favorite places to go is Starlite Coney Island. Next time you're there say hello and maybe he'll buy you a cup of coffee.