Ousted police chief's home is robbed on his last day

By BILL McGRAW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • July 15, 2009

When Mayor Dave Bing introduced new Police Chief Warren Evans on Monday and talked about cutting crime in Detroit, ousted Chief James Barren was licking his wounds.

But Barren’s hurt wasn’t entirely due to the loss of his job. He was also upset about his Detroit home, which burglars hit last Thursday, his final full day as the city’s top cop.

“They got me pretty good,” Barren said Wednesday night.

He said the thief or thieves broke in during the day and stole a computer, camcorder, television, jewelry, watches and other items. He had no cost estimate.

As chief of the state’s largest police force since October, Barren, a 31-year DPD veteran, heard many residents complaining about break-ins.

“You relate to people and what they’re saying,” he said. “You think, ‘Wow. They got me.’ ”

He added: “This is part of living in a big city. It goes with the territory.”

Barren lives in the 8 Mile and Greenfield area, near Northland Center. Burglars have hit other homes in the neighborhood recently.

He said he has had cars stolen in the past and, many years ago, experienced another burglary.

Detroit police used to combat break-ins with special surveillance squads that targeted people suspected of being burglars, Barren said. That might work today, but he acknowledged the department is short of personnel.

“Resources are scraped to the bone,” Barren said.

Among the problems caused by too few Detroit cops is slow -- or no -- response.

Asked if police responded to what was then a crime scene at the home of the boss, Barren said: “They made it.”

Detroit Police Chief James Barren, at a news conference at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building in Detroit on Sept. 17, 2008, lost his job and had his home burglarized in the same week.

(ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press)