'Operation Blue Light' Sweep Nets Hundreds of Arrests

Police and security officers from a dozen Wayne County police agencies erased the borders between their jurisdictions in a joint sweep known as Operation Blue Light that netted hundreds of fugitive criminals.

The 15-day operation ran from Sept. 15-30 and involved the following police agencies: Dearborn, Detroit, Dearborn Heights, Livonia, Redford Twp, Inkster, Taylor, Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Wayne State University, and Wayne County Sheriff.

The effort resulted in thousands of traffic stops that netted more than 200 felony and 970 misdemeanor arrests that will help other area police agencies clear crimes. Several of the arrests were significant in that they involved suspects in crimes across several communities, police said in press materials distributed after a Friday news conference.

For example, William Dee Montgomery, 54, was arrested on an outstanding warrant and charged as a habitual offender for retail fraud. He has had 73 negative contacts with police agencies in 10 different jurisdictions in three counties since 1986, according to information distributed at the news conference.

His rap sheet includes felony and misdemeanor charges related to burglary and retail fraud, but also three counts of domestic violence, an aggravated stalking charge and a charge of malicious threats by phone.

Also arrested were Mark Boyce, 28, and Alicia Deese, 32, who targeted elderly women in retail establishments and stole their purses. There were at least eight victims in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Westland and Canton.

Working together helped police establish a greater presence at the Sept. 26-26 “Delectricity Festival,” which draws 100,000 visitors to Midtown Detroit’s Woodward Corridor. The combined effort was “a crucial piece in assuring the safety of this event,” where there was “not one single criminal incident,” the police agencies said in press materials.

Police involved in the alliance say it recognizes that crime and criminals don’t respect borders, and that they patrol areas often targeted by criminals who move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction committing similar crimes.

The participating agencies also experience the same types of traffic violations, accident issues, and have also previously arrested and ticketed the same individuals who currently may have outstanding fugitive warrants from the various regional jurisdictions.

All of the involved cities also suffer from the same types of crimes in their retail and business districts as well as residential neighborhoods and school zones.

The mission of Operation Blue Light was to disrupt the criminal process, improve safety on roadways, address the current crime trends, and enhance the quality of life for residents through a combined regional response.

Each agency deployed available resources within their own city to provide highly visible intense proactive traffic and investigatory stops of vehicles and suspicious pedestrian activity with specific concentration on major thoroughfares, shared border streets, retail areas, residential areas, and school zones to impact crime in each respective city. The major objectives of this operation were:

• To apprehend wanted persons residing in and around our identified region.
• To address serious traffic related issues uniquely identified by each agency.
• To disrupt and impact larceny crimes and crimes against persons in retail and business districts.
• To recover illegal and dangerous weapons.
• To respond to specific identified areas of crime or mischief in residential neighborhoods and to develop and share intelligence on pattern crimes, B&E’s, and property crimes.
• To leverage partnerships in the private security sector as additional “Eyes and Ears”, especially those with marked security vehicles to make an effort to achieve optimum visibility in their areas of patrol and service.

By the Numbers

Vehicles stopped: 9,961

ULCs issued: 9,055

Vehicles impounded: 657

Felony arrests: 207

Misdemeanor arrests: 973

Warrant arrests: 349

Weapons recovered: 25