Operation Compliance: Detroit's War on Small Business
...Operation Compliance began with the stated goal of shutting down 20 businesses a week. Since its inception, Operation Compliance has resulted in the closure of 383 small businesses, with another 536 in the "process of compliance," according to figures provided to Reason TV by city officials.

But business owners say that Operation Compliance unfairly targets small, struggling businesses in poor areas of town and that the city's maze of regulations is nearly impossible to navigate, with permit fees that are excessive and damaging to businesses running on thin profit margins.

"It is hard to run a business in Detroit. It's taken me three years to get approval for an outside patio," says Larry Mongo, who runs Cafe D'Mongo's Speakeasy a successful bar and restaurant in downtown Detroit....