Police to surrender Detroit, post ‘Enter at your own risk’ signs
Police officers in Detroit greeted football fans attending Saturday night’s Tigers game with a shock warning: ‘Enter Detroit at Your Own Risk.’
To protest against plans to cut their pay and increase their hours, an estimated 400 off-duty police officers handed out fliers to fans as they entered the Tigers’ Comerica Park stadium.
Under the heading ‘Attention: Enter Detroit at Your Own Risk’, the flyer warns that Detroit is America’s most violent city, with the highest homicide rate, while it’s police force is grossly understaffed and under paid.
“We’re not discouraging people from coming, I love the city, I want them to realize we don’t have enough man hours,” police union president Joe Duncan told My Fox Detroit.
In an attempt to save $350 million during the current fiscal year, the city of Detroit and the Detroit Police Officer’s Association are at odds over a new contract that calls for 10 percent pay cuts and 12-hour shifts for police officers. The current contract for the union’s 2,130 members expired on June 30.
“I don’t think the city is going to get same officer eight hours a day as you do for 12 hours a day,” said Duncan.