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

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.

Detroit officials are begging residents to not steal fire hydrants, which are going missing across the city pic.twitter.com/6tlB7M5HQv
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 22, 2026

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.

Living like this is a choice.
— Hunter DeButts (@BillySullivan7) April 23, 2026

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

Tearing down infrastructure for raw materials is third-world insanity. Just like when they build a well in Africa and it's torn apart to sell for scrap, and everyone is left drinking filthy water again.
— BLynnHH (@BLynnHH) April 22, 2026