Headed to the Target Fireworks Tonight? Your Deputies Are

As the 54th annual Target fireworks light up the Detroit skyline tonight, 96 Oakland County Sheriff's deputies and reserves, and another 40 from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office from Oakland County will be helping Detroit officers patrol the streets below.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson have both agreed to send additional law enforcement from their own counties to ensure the annual event is safe for all in attendance, according to a press release.

However, as a condition of this assistance, both county executives said they expect the City of Detroit to reimburse their counties' taxpayers fully. Their join press release was in response to a recent statement made by Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who said some of the regional law enforcement assistance will be “in
kind.”

Oakland County will send 52 deputies, 14 mounted deputies, and 30 reserve deputies, while Macomb County committed 20 deputies and 20 reserve deputies, while  Reserve deputies in both counties are unpaid volunteers.

The fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 10:06 p.m. Monday, June 25, over the waterway between Detroit and Windsor.