Expect to see heightened security around downtown Detroit this weekend
(CBS DETROIT) – With tens of thousands of people expected to visit downtown Detroit this weekend, there's heightened security around the area.
For those coming to downtown Detroit this weekend, almost every move will be caught on camera.
Detroit police are deploying these towers sending live video to the department's real-time crime center.
"This allows us to put eyes in the sky and be able to monitor changing of activities so that we can address those accordingly," Detroit Police Commander Melissa Gardner with Downtown Services said.
Officers will be strategically placed around the area.
Those going to a Tigers game or Ford Field for the Taylor Swift concert may see some officers on bikes and horseback; others will blend in with the crowd.
"We definitely look at utilizing our plainclothes officers in different capacities to just again, provide that safety and security, making sure that we're if we can identify bad actors that we're doing it early on," Gardner told CBS News Detroit.
At Hart Plaza, Motor City Pride expects to host 20,000 people for this weekend's festival and another 20,000 for the parade.
"Our attendance has grown so much over the last couple of years. The lines were larger than we would like. And so we put new things in place, hired a company to help move people in and check people in so people can come in and join the festival much quicker. That's been our major concentration," Dave Wait, Chairman of Motor City Pride, told CBS News Detroit.
Organizers are working closely with DPD.
"They're watching chatter on the internet to see if there's any threats that come in that direction or are people protesting," Wait said.
Police want to remind parents the citywide weekend curfew is still in place. For those 15 and younger, it begins at 10 p.m. For 16 and 17-year-olds, it starts at 11 p.m.
