Detroit City Council demands accountability in wake of Cinco de Mayo police controversy
(CBS DETROIT) - Tensions remain high over how the Detroit Police Department handled the crowds at the Cinco de Mayo celebration on Sunday.
Councilmember Mary Waters has described it as a "militaristic shutdown" and called for DPD Police Chief James White to appear at Tuesday's council meeting.
However, Chief White was a no-show on Tuesday. Those who spoke on his behalf reiterated that they did not shut down the Cinco de Mayo celebration, and what they did was simply enforce the law to keep everyone safe.
"Oftentimes, we have to make a split-second command-level decision in the interest of public safety, and that's what happened on Sunday," DPD Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes said.
Hayes and other members of the top brass strongly defended the action its officers took during the Cinco de Mayo festivities in Southwest Detroit.
"To characterize the actions of DPD as racist is extremely divisive and has no place in this community," Hayes said.
The event attracted over 50,000 patrons to the streets, sidewalks, and parking lots.
"We made a safety decision to keep the cars out and redirect vehicular traffic so that none of the patrons would be hit, or we would even minimize that opportunity," Hayes said.
He added that some businesses didn't have the proper permits, which led to overcrowding.
"But believe it or not, it's not that uncommon. It's something that we face off in our line of work. Had we allowed that event to happen if something catastrophic happened, we would be right here before you having a different conversation about how we were derelict in our duties," Hayes said.
District Six Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero said she heard some reports of officers failing to provide their names and badge numbers to community members. Hayes recognized the lapse in protocol and plans to address it.
"I am surprised that after 50 years, we're still having issues. I understand prior to this, there were horrible incidents they had. There were deaths. We have fear. There is a real anxiety. But at this point, things are different. I think things are getting better. And I'm going to lean in into working together as a whole so that what happens Sunday doesn't happen again," Santiago-Romero said.
Several council members believe that better communication and education about the permitting process are needed to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Detroit police also pointed out that out of the thousands of people who came out to celebrate, only eight of them were detained, ticketed and released.