Detroit police arrested 2 people in NFL Draft footprint over three days
(CBS DETROIT) - When Detroit was announced as the host of the 2024 NFL Draft, some worried whether crime would be an issue.
More than 770,000 people came through downtown for the draft, and the Detroit Police Department said that over the three days in the draft footprint, there were two adult arrests and two juveniles detained for fighting.
"Our strategy was no one will go 20 yards, keeping with the sports theme, without seeing a police officer," said Detroit Police Chief James White.
White said there were instances of people trying to jump the gates once the draft hit capacity, but they prepared for that.
"Once they hit that gate, they were still screened when they came up to the gate. We had a couple people who weren't screened. We put our undercover officers on them. We were able to get them," he said.
He said the Detroit community helped make the draft a safe event.
"We had people point out things, like police officers, to us, 'Hey, I think they're going to get into a fight.' And we were able to get ahead of a lot of different things and really contain a lot of issues before they happened."
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that, in his opinion, White was the MVP of the draft.
"Everybody I talked to talked about the Detroit police officers. Our 2,500 men and women had their vacations and leaves canceled for three days. They were out on their feet 10-12 hours a day. Even by the end of the day Saturday, they were smiling and greeting people. It was tremendous," said Duggan.
One of the biggest safety concerns was the sheer size of the draft footprint. DPD utilized undercover officers and partnered with other local and federal agencies for support, such as extra bombs and narcotics sniffing dogs.
Visitors and locals said they felt safe throughout the event.
"There wasn't nowhere where I felt like I had to look over my back wherever I was walking around at. And that's a great feeling. We've been needing that," said Detroit resident George Williams.
"That old nonsensical of stories of Detroit from the '80s, it's over with. And we're a different city. Our community was ready for this event, and they showed it. And I was very proud of them," said White.