Cityscape

Lengel: Ilitch Team Can Take a Cue from Gilbert on Security

June 22, 2017, 2:14 PM by  Allan Lengel

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Security guards along lower Woodward Avenue.

While I worked at The Detroit News in the late 1980s and the first half of 1990s and went to a hockey game, I alwaysd was struck by how eerie and abandoned the streets of downtown seemed, particularly the many blocks leading to Joe Louis Arena. 

I was used to it, but thought it wasn’t particularly inviting for people visiting the city.

I'sdsee fans park and move briskly to the stadium. Ditto for when the game was over. People scurried to their cars while the streets were still filled with fans. Sure, some wanted to beat the traffic home. But it also felt like people wanted to get out of Dodge while the going was good. 

One thing that always bothered me was that the Ilitch organization didn’t supplement security beyond the immediate parameter of Joe Louis Arena – or at least I sure didn’t see it. It seems the organization left it up to the Detroit Police and its limited resources to provide a safe environment. And frankly, you didn't see much police or private security presence beyond the Joe. Ditto for the Tigers games and performances at the Fox Theatre.

Over the years, nothing really changed regarding the limited security. Granted, in the past few years, people have have become increasingly more comfortable sticking around after the game. But the streets still have had an eerie feeling at night, particularly if you walked several blocks from the Joe to a bar like the Anchor on Fort Street. 

Now, cut to Quicken Loans founder and developer Dan Gilbert. One thing for certain is: He gets it when it comes to security.

Gilbert has provided supplemental police security, particularly along Woodward Avenue where he owns plenty buildings he leases to such companies as Nike and Under Armour. He also has several employees working in the area.

He has a central security center with video cameras placed around the city. He has security guards on foot, on bikes, in cars. The same for areas like Brush Park, just north of Comerica Park, and Capitol Park, where he's developing housing.

A Big Difference 

Simply put, Gilbert gets it: Thousands of workers he employs prefer to live and work in a safe environment and he delivers. As a Detroit resident, I appreciate it, walking down Woodward Avenue or through Capitol Park.

There was a time not so long ago where aggressive pan handlers on Woodward in downtown Detroit got in your face. Some suffered from mental illness and screamed as you walked by. Security provided by Gilbert has changed that.

Don’t get me wrong. I religiously give to panhandlers, but bristle when they get in my face and get angry when I only give a dollar or simply tell them, truthfully, that I don’t have change. (I’ll occasionally give $5 or I'll spring for a sandwich).  Last summer, I had a panhandler approach me at a parking lot on Fort Street downtown, next to the Anchor Bar, and get in my face after I gave him a dollar. He insisted it wasn’t enough and demanded I give him a $10 or $20 bill.

“Give me whatever you got in your pocket,” he demanded, angrily. Had he produced a gun or a knife, I certainly would have complied. But he didn't. So, I stared at him, then nervously got in my car.  He waved the $1 in front of driver’s closed window, yelling that it wasn’t enough. I yelled through the window: “Give it to someone who needs it” and simply drove off, grateful he didn’t try to smash my window.  

You can’t totally avoid situations like that. It can happen anywhere downtown or in any downtown section of most major cities, security or not.

Greater Sense of Safety

But Gilbert has changed the landscape in parts of downtown and improved the odds of avoiding those types of encounters -- or worse. 

Which brings me to this. The Ilitch organization is completing the Little Caesars Arena and has big plans to develop residential and commercial space in the surrounding area.

The Ilitch organization needs to take a cue from Gilbert and provide supplemental security for the area, beyond the parameter of the arena, beyond just having security cars sit outside construction sites to prevent theft and vandalism.

The Ilitch organization got a sweetheart deal from the city and taxpayers on the arena, not to mention that it stiffed the city out of tens of millions of dollars it owed for TV revenues from the Joe. 

It can afford to put up a little extra for security. Not only is it good for people’s safety, it’s good for business.



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