Assaults, robberies plague new transit center

With great fanfare, the $22.5-million Rosa Parks Transit Center opened in July, promising Detroit bus riders a 24-hour shelter that included rest rooms, a bus fare cashier station, information and security booths, a coffee shop and other retail outlets.  (Putting a facility like this in Downtown Detroit is just insane.  You’re just giving them something to destroy.)

In a memo obtained by the Free Press, Detroit Department of Transportation officials admit that the transit center closes at various times during the week and weekends because of the city’s current fiscal constraints — its inability to maintain appropriate staffing levels because of the layoffs of security personnel.

The city’s remedy: A Detroit Police Department mini-station is likely to open inside the center within the next two weeks, said Charles Beckham, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s group executive for operations.

Within the last three weeks at the Rosa Parks Transit Center, a woman has been caught bathing her cat in a sink, numerous drug deals have gone down and a man who was sleeping in a bathroom stall grew testy when he was awakened by a guard on patrol. (And that’s just the stuff they know about)


  • Share/Bookmark

Related posts:

  1. Police investigate fraud within city workers. Kwame's uncle returns stolen funds, let off hook.