Detroit Public Schools Police Department (DPSPD)

The Detroit Public Schools’ Police Department is comprised of Police Officers, Investigators, Campus Police Officers, security officers and a K-9 unit, whose mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for students and staff, conducive for teaching and learning. The Department is housed in a new $5.6 million 23,000-sq ft. state of the art Command Center and Headquarters that opened in January 2011.

At the Command Center, DPS officers can monitor campuses 24-hours a day using high-tech video surveillance cameras and alarms. Schools are being updated with alarm and video surveillance packages installed throughout the interior and exterior that will be fed to video systems at the Command Center.

The new Command Center goes hand-in-hand with a restructuring of the Police Department and $41.7 million district-wide security initiative that strives to make all schools safer. As part of that, the district has launched a new visitors ID badge system, requiring visitors to Detroit Public Schools high schools, career technical schools and the district's new Police Command Center to be put through on-the-spot sex-offender registry checks as part of a new security clearance system aimed at making campuses safer for students and staff.

The system will instantly scan visitors’ driver licenses and state ID cards and cross-check the information with sex-offender registries throughout the United States and Canada.

All high school students also have been issued new photo ID badges that are color-coded by school, allowing campus security personnel to instantly identify students who belong on their campus.

The Police Department reports to DPS’ Office of Inspector General.

2011-12 Safety and Security Enhancements

The district’s Police Department, a deputized police force, includes 51 police officers patrolling schools 24-7. The district also has 47 Campus Police Officers at all high schools, and at other sites. And under a contract with Securitas, the district now provides security personnel in all K-8 schools, as well as additional security officers in all high schools

DPS is installing groundbreaking Concealed Weapons Detector (CWD) walk-through portals which use advanced magnetics technology to accurately pinpoint threat objects on a visual image of the subject. This $534,000 investment in 60 portals allows a photo tag of every student entering the buildings in a faster, more efficient, procedure.
All schools in the District will receive $18 million in camera and alarm upgrades. Implementation is currently taking place, and will continue throughout the year. New and renovated s schools this fall will include full upgrades.
All new and renovated schools have a new or renovated security entrance with security office and monitors to display all school cameras. Those cameras can also be viewed at the Command Center and from the school's administration area / principal's office. View Scan metal detectors are also installed at entrances. Under the system, when there is an incident or unwanted entry, camera and alarms will activate at doors. The camera system will initiate and record the previous 15 seconds of activity to the alarm. Cameras also activate at the Command center. Officers at the Command Center then can activate video of all cameras at a school to pinpoint exact location to respond.
DPS will use 8 motorcycles to patrol larger campuses, and during the sporting events.
DPS has implemented a Fast Pass Visitor ID badging system, an identification system in 32 schools, including all high schools for everyone walking through a building. Officers are charged with immediately challenging anyone without a badge, creating a safer environment. The Fast-Pass visitor badge system, a $131,000 investment, includes a camera, adhesive paper badge printer, driver license reader and bar-code scanner.

K-9 unit

Detroit Public Schools’ K-9 unit is made up of three canines: Nitro, Tazer and Maximus. All were imported from Germany, and trained locally at a training facility in Wayne, Michigan. The department has two k-9 officers and a handler.

Detroit Public Schools Police Department officers John Greene and Nitro were named Police K-9 Team of the Year by Police K-9 Magazine.

The March 2010 issue featured Greene and Nitro, the 5-year-old black and tan Slovak German Shepherd. The narcotic patrol team was honored for their 510 canine uses in 2009, which is considered an extremely high number of uses. Those included 314 building searches, in which he apprehended suspects 65 times. The team had about 90 arrests in 2009.

In one incident in 2009, Nitro sniffed out three men who broke into an elementary school. Officers on the scene had been trying for an extended period of time to find them and couldn’t. Nitro found the suspects in a cubby hole and they immediately surrendered.

Safety Net Program

Detroit Public Schools Police department has a “Safety Net” program for children not picked up from school by 5 p.m. There are two Safety Net locations. The East Side center is located at the East Side Bus Terminal, 10205 Mack Ave, Detroit (313) 866-6300. The West Side center is located at the West Side Bus Terminal, 8145 Greenfield, Detroit, (313) 945-8716. DPSPD will ensure safe pickup of students through contact with the student's parent/guardian.

Citizen Patrols

Detroit Public Schools' citizens patrol teams are part of a comprehensive multi-agency program that have helped to spur a sharp reductions in incidents. Schools are seeking volunteers for new eyes-on patrols at several large high schools and at other locations. Highly active men's patrol groups have been watching routes and bus stops near Cody High School, where Brothers on Patrol has a presence, and Osborn High, where MADE Men patrol. The M.A.N. Network also patrols around DPS schools, including Denby, Osborn, and Brenda Scott. The district also has a group of volunteers called the Parent and Community Academy, who wear yellow jackets and act as safety volunteers, monitoring youth traveling to and from school, in school hall ways and lunch rooms, and around the school. To volunteer, call (313) 748-6008.

Mission

The Mission of the Detroit Public Schools Police Department (DPSPD) is to provide a safe and secure environment for students and staff, conducive for teaching and learning.