Dallas Police Shootings Put Metro Detroit on High Alert

This story has been updated.

Metro Detroit, MI — Calling the sniper attack in Dallas that killed five police officers and wounded seven others “urban terrorism,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Friday his department is on high alert, according to media reports.

The heightened status “is not an overreaction,” Craig told The Detroit News.“We told our officers: Be diligent and rely on your training.”

Craig is among police chiefs in several of the nation’s largest cities who have put their departments on high alert after at least two snipers opened fire during a rally to protest the killing of two black men by police earlier this week.

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“I’m angry. The attack in Dallas is an attack on all law enforcement. Every police department in America was attacked last night. Some people want to dance around it, but let’s call this what it is: Terrorism. Urban terrorism,” Craig said.

“Whether it’s ISIS or some other cowards, it doesn’t matter. And it’s been known for some time that law enforcement has been a target. It’s something we’ve been living with, and now even more so.”

Detroit Black Lives Matter Rally

A Black Lives Matter rally in Detroit Friday was noisy but peaceful, The Detroit News reported. The rally in response to two black civilians who died in encounters with white police officers had been announced hours before the Dallas sniper attacks.

Police escorted protesters as they marched down Woodward Avenue to Hart Plaza, some waving American flags and chanting “hands up, don’t shoot” and making claims of police brutality, unequal treatment and racism. Signs proclaimed “Live in peace” and “Stop the killings of innocent people.”

The crowd was estimated to be about 1,000 people strong, the Detroit Free Press said, adding that though the majority of the crowd was black, a "sizeable" number of whites also attended.

Earlier on Friday community leaders and residents called for peace and police reform, but also sent a strong message of condemnation for all shootings when they gathered at the Historic Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit.

"I believe that if we begin to see police and law enforcement take positive steps toward taking responsibility for their bad policies that they have so long held onto, then we won't see copycats,"the Rev. Charles Williams II, the church's pastor said. "We don't want to see escalation. However, if law enforcement doesn't change its ways, it will cut its own nose to spite its face."

An Incongruous But Important Task

When he awoke to the horrific news of the police shootings Friday morning, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard struggled with how he would advise the 1,300 officers and others employed by the sheriff’s office “to be on guard for their life, yet approachable and friendly to the people we serve,” according to a Facebook post, which called it an obviously “challenging and seemingly incongruous but important task.”

The first shirt he saw in his drawer conveyed the message he wanted to send, according to the post.

Royal Oak Police Chief Corrigan O'Donohue called the shootings “ a wake-up call to some of the rhetoric going on about law enforcement and to those who make snap judgments about law enforcement officers,” The Oakland Press reported.

“Hopefully people will slow down and figure out what the facts are before making a judgment call about police officers based on a video clip.”

President Barack Obama, speaking in Warsaw, Poland, where he’s attending a NATO summit, said the attacks were “a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement.”

“Police in Dallas were on duty, doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests,” Obama said. “I believe I speak for every single American when I say we are horrified and we stand united with the people and police department in Dallas.”

“The violence we have seen over the last several weeks is unconscionable and unacceptable,” he said in a statement. “It is clear that we have many serious issues that must be addressed, and it is imperative that we do so in a peaceful, meaningful way. My prayers go out to all those who have lost loved ones in these senseless tragedies. Above all else, we are all Americans. It is time we come together and begin the process of healing.”

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, said:

“The events of the week both shock and challenge our nation. Violence at the hands of law enforcement and violence targeting law enforcement during a peaceful protest are reprehensible and rattle our consciousness,” stated Levin.

“Coming in the aftermath of Orlando, this week leaves all of us shaking our heads asking what is going on around us. We must all hold up a mirror and ask ourselves some very tough questions: about hatred, about racial tensions, about anger and violence, and yes, about guns.

“We should each do so walking in the shoes of the parents of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the families of the Dallas police officers.

“The response we have as individuals and collectively will speak volumes about our country. As a Congress, I know we can do better.”