Police Team to Secure Busy U.S.-Canada Border

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Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon deputized 10 Detroit police officers Wednesday, a move that extends their jurisdiction to the entire county as authorities strengthen patrols along the U.S.-Canada border.

Napoleon and Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a news conference that the sheriff’s office and Detroit Police Department agreed last summer to pool some resources to better control criminal situations along the border, but working together on land and water and in the air better prepares law enforcement to respond to potential terrorism.

“It’s no secret that this international border we sit on is ranked No. 1 in the country for commercial travel,” Craig said. “And when you look at the number of personal vehicles that travel across this international border, we’re ranked third. Clearly, that’s a challenge.

“The threat of terrorism didn’t just come about in recent months. This has been something we’ve been challenged with since 9/11, and here we had the ... terrorist attack on American soil just last week. So a constant state of readiness is the order of the day.”

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Police say they’ve also stepped up patrols around mosques and other houses of worship, scheduled meetings with local religious leaders and are increasing training of emergency personnel in response to heightened anti-Muslim rhetoric after terrorist attacks both California and abroad.

Hamad said he doesn’t “want to cause panic,” but said commonsense vigilance is in order.

Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad said that though authorities haven’t received a specific threat, patrols are providing more visibility around schools, businesses and places of worship.

“No one is oblivious to the emotional opinions that are circulating around the country,” Haddad told The Detroit News. “We just want to make sure we maintain a balance on public safety, so people can go on with their lives.”

It’s not just Muslims who are nervous. Police are more visible in Oak Park, which has a large Jewish population. In Troy, pastors at a couple of large mega churches worry about extremists who may want “to make a statement against Christianity,” Troy Police Sgt. Meghan Lehman told The News.

“This isn’t just terrorism (from Islamic extremists),” Lehman said. “It’s a concern about domestic terrorism.”

» Photo by John Hardwick via Flickr / Creative Commons