Detroit’s annual fireworks display on Monday was as radiant and breathtaking as ever.
Trouble is, many Detroiters had trouble seeing the dazzling display because the city’s police department closed most of the public parks and spaces that offered the best views.
Now residents and City Council President Mary Sheffield want to know why.
The decision to close the parks “restricts viewing access for some of our most vulnerable residents, including our seniors and disabled residents,” Sheffield said in a memo to the Detroit Police Department and General Services Department on Monday.
“It is my hope that the City can be as accommodating as possible for the residents who may find it difficult to attend the fireworks in Hart Plaza and other heavily trafficked areas,” she added.
While thousands of residents squeezed into Hart Plaza, Spirit Plaza, and Belle Isle, most of the parks — and the Riverwalk — were closed, even though many of them were recently improved with tax-funded renovations. They included Riverside Park, Owen Park, Erma Henderson Park, Mt. Elliot Park, AB Ford Park, Lakewood East Park, Gabriel Richard Park, Stockton Park, Maheras-Gentry Park, and Mariner Park.
Residents also took to social media to air their grievances.
“Tonight was a fucking disaster,” @sociallychrissy tweeted. “I wanted to believe that tonight was for Detroiters and after the events of tonight, I have to say Detroit didn’t want Detroiters at the 2024 fireworks.”
Kat Stafford, a former Free Press reporter who now serves as the global race and justice editor for Reuters, also expressed her disappointment.
“No tents on Belle Isle. City parks closed,” Stafford tweeted. “These are public spaces that have been used by Detroiters for years. But we know those exclusive rooftop events will proceed as normal.”
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Alex Washington, a former Metro Times digital content editor, said the park closures smacked of racism.
“I can’t find the words to explain why this is wrong and feels very anti-Black Detroit, but this is wrong and feels very anti-Black Detroit,” she tweeted.
Washington added, “Like you know how crazy it is you can’t go to a city park and watch the city fireworks?!”
So why are the parks closed?
The police department cites a spate of past shootings. In 2017, three people were shot downtown just before and after the fireworks display. In 2013, a man was fatally shot about a mile away from downtown at the Martin Luther King Apartments. In 2011, a 14-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the groin, and a stray bullet struck a 16-year-old girl in the leg near the Renaissance Center. And in 2004, a man opened fire into a crowd that had gathered for the fireworks, injuring eight people and killing one.
“There’s just too many kids walking around with guns,” then-Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown told WJR-AM 760 after the 2012 shooting.
A vast majority of those shootings, however, occurred in areas that are still open.
Detroit police pointed out that the park closures during the fireworks are nothing new and have been a regular occurrence for the past few years.
“Decisions regarding open viewing areas are made in the interest of the safety of the hundreds of thousands of attendees,” DPD said in a statement to Metro Times.
Closing the parks, the police department said, ensures “the safety of all attendees, by dedicating police presence to this event and limiting congestion of areas around the city.”
DPD added, “The Department is confident in our strategy and in the hard work of our officers. We know the community looks forward to this event and wants to enjoy it safely.”
As it has in the past, DPD also enforced a curfew downtown for anyone under the age of 18 from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
No violence was reported at the fireworks this year.
Over the past two months, DPD has also come under fire for its handling of large crowds and protests. Police were scrutinized for their heavy-handed response to the Cinco de Mayo festival. And on May 19, a Detroit cop was captured on video telling an anti-war protester to “go back to Mexico.”
Councilwoman Mary Waters threatened to subpoena police Chief James White, questioning what she said “may be a disturbing, systemic pattern of racist, xenophobic police conduct.”
White suspended the officer who made the “go back to Mexico” comment after discovering he had also made an offensive remark to a Black protester.
