Detroit mayor, police chief unveil plan to combat violence after bloody July 4 weekend

DETROIT — Following a July 4 holiday weekend in which six juveniles were shot, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan stood with Detroit Police officials for the second year in a row on Monday to unveil a multi-point plan aimed at reducing violence.

During a press conference at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, Duggan and Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison announced a "Five-Step Plan" that includes stepping up enforcement of the city's curfew ordinance and extending the hours of the Detroit Police unit that's charged with breaking up large illegal gatherings including block parties and drag races.

The announcement followed multiple shootings last week, including a 2-year-old boy who was wounded Saturday while watching fireworks with his family in the 8600 block of Marion Street on the city's east side. On June 27, a 4-year-old boy and 18-year-old male were killed at an east-side park.

Other violence last week included an incident Thursday night in which police fatally shot a teen who allegedly shot an officer in the hand. In a separate incident, a 16-year-old was shot while leaving an east-side gas station.

There have been 20 shootings from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. in the past month involving juveniles, Duggan said.

"These are times when they should not have been out," he said.

Duggan said he's authorized Police Chief Todd Bettison to pay overtime to deploy the Mobile Field Force until 5 a.m., after noticing that people were waiting until after the unit disbursed at 3 a.m. to commit crimes that include a group of drag racers "taking over" the street at 7 Mile and Meyer on Detroit's west side Saturday morning.

Detroit Police also will begin "strict enforcement" of the city's curfew ordinances that bar children age 15 and younger from being out in public after 10 p.m. without a parent or responsible adult, and 16- and 17-year-olds from being out after 11 p.m. without an adult escort.

The mayor also said Monday he planned to petition the Detroit City Council to amend the city's Parental Responsibility Ordinance to increase find from $75 for a first offense and $100 for subsequent violations, to fines of $250 for first offenders and $500 for each following offense.

"I would try to make it more, but the maximum fine allowed by the state is $500," said Duggan, whose remarks came a year to the day after the worst mass shooting in Michigan history at an illegal block party on the city's east side. "There are no teeth to the city's Parental Responsibility Ordinance."

Last year from July 4-7, there were 27 people shot − three fatally − at six illegal block parties in Detroit, police officials said. In response, Duggan and former Police Chief James White devised a plan to target the organizers of large, illegal parties by enforcing city code violations that carry up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, or by seeking warrants from Wayne County prosecutors.

"For two or three weeks, people tested the Detroit Police Department, but after they saw the effectiveness, the illegal street parties came to a halt last year," Duggan said. "Last year we saw the biggest reduction in homicides in history. The 2024 plan was effective.

"But what we've seen in the last 30 days is that people have changed their strategies," Duggan said. "We're seeing two issues we didn't have last year: We're running into problems at 3, 4, 5 in the morning ... and while we've seen a dramatic drop in shootings involving people 21 (years old) and up, unfortunately, we're now seeing way too many young people either being shot or doing the shooting."

The problems during this year's holiday weekend included the July 5 quadruple shooting at an illegal block party on Acacia on Detroit's west side; and drag racing and drifting that same morning at 7 Mile and Meyers, in which the rowdy motorists stopped traffic for an hour-and-a-half at 4:30 a.m.

"That's because we didn't have the Mobile Field Force active," Duggan said. "We had to pull from multiple other (precincts) because you can't send one or two scout cars into that big of a crowed and not put the officers in danger."

Last year, Detroit Police elevated calls about illegal block parties to Priority 1 status, meaning they get immediate attention upon being dispatched. Bettison said this year, calls reporting groups of young people out after curfew will be given the same Priority 1 status.

"We've already had internal staff meetings about this, and we're moving forward with a sense of urgency to ensure we're protecting the most valuable members of our community, which is our young people," the chief said.

Of the six juveniles who were shot from Thursday to Sunday, four were out after curfew Bettison said.

"It's become clear to me that the enforcement of our curfew citywide can save lives," Bettison said. "Starting today, every member of the Detroit Police Department will make curfew enforcement a priority ... we're not doing this for punitive reasons, but as a preventative measure to save young people from becoming the victims or perpetrators of gun violence."

In addition to authorizing overtime to extend the Mobile Field Force's hours, enforcing the curfew, elevating reports of groups of juveniles to Priority 1 status and Duggan's proposed tougher Parental Responsibility Ordinance, the fifth part of the mayor's five-point plan was to call on legislators to pass the Public Safety Trust legislation that would continue funding community violence intervention groups when their federal award expires in December.