Tipsheet

Detroit Is So Far Gone, Officials Are Begging Criminals Not to Steal These

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  April 23, 2026 2:00 PM

There was a time when Detroit was a great American city. The heart of the U.S. auto industry, Detroit peaked with almost 2 million residents. Today, it's population is less than 700,000 and crime is higher. Crime is so bad, in fact, that city officials are now asking criminals not to steal the city's fire hydrants for the brass components.

Chuck Simms, Detroit's Executive Fire Commissioner, spoke to the media about the problem.

"It's not only a theft of the fire hydrant, but it's a theft of our citizens, our residents, our firefighters, and public safety in general," Simms said. "It's totally unacceptable. Fire hydrants are a very important part of our infrastructure and no matter how fast we get to a fire, if we don't have an operable fire hydrant, it takes seconds and even minutes away from us maybe saving lives."

"The problem is, whoever's doing this is doing multiple hydrants in a row," said Sam Smalley, the DWSD Deputy Director. "So when DFD shows up, they're not going to have a hydrant for 600 or 900 feet. Which puts people's lives at risk."

The criminals don't care, of course.

Yes, it is. These thieves should end up in jail for a long time. That'll put an end to the theft.

Exactly what that's like.

Because that culture doesn't tolerate theft.

This, of course, is sarcasm. But Sorbo nails the Left's mentality on theft, which snowballs into the theft of critical infrastructure.

It's like a swarm of locusts.