Detroit police say they plan to ramp up security measures at this weekend’s highly anticipated Lions game and at the upcoming auto show following deadly New Year’s Day attacks on crowds in Las Vegas and New Orleans.
Detroit Police officers stand at an entrance during the NFL draft experience at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Friday, April 26, 2024.
Federal and tri-county law enforcement agencies will provide additional security in and around Ford Field as the Lions and Vikings vie for the NFC North title Sunday night, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said during an annual crime statistics presentation Friday.
“I think everyone understands we’re going to take every precaution possible,” Duggan said. “We don’t have any threats or anything like that, but we just thought it was prudent.”
Those coming downtown around the 8:20 p.m. game should “pack their patience” in preparation of the additional security protocols, which include the rerouting of some traffic, said interim Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison.
“It could be an inconvenience,” he said. “It will be some disruption, it shouldn’t be too bad, but (people) will notice.”
Bettison, a longtime department member and former Detroit deputy mayor, said the department is well-versed in interagency event coordination.
“This partnership here -— we have practiced together, we have the muscle memory from the NFL draft, we did the Super Bowl,” he said. “We do large events well in the city of Detroit.”
In addition to extra patrols on the ground, Bettison said there would be “air coverage” and “marine” coverage, but declined to provide further specifics.
The annual Detroit Auto Show, which runs Jan. 10-20, will also see similar increased security measures, officials said.
Wednesday’s attacks began in the morning in New Orleans, where an Army veteran, allegedly aligned with the Islamic terrorist group ISIS, plowed a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others. Hours later, outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, an active duty Green Beret died by suicide moments before the Tesla Cybertruck he was in exploded, injuring seven others.
The attacks have raised fears about copycat incidents at other events across the country.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Greater security planned for Lions game, auto show, Detroit police say