Families gather in Hart Plaza to see fireworks light up the Detroit sky
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By Ronnie Dahl, Fox 2 News -
Kids with faces painted awaiting Monday night's fireworks show in downtown Detroit. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
DETROIT (WJBK) -
To snag the best seat for watching one of the biggest, most spectacular fireworks shows in the world, you need to have a plan that includes an advanced team.
"Family coming down later, so it will be a good time," said Mike Gittens, who was camped out since 11:00 a.m.
"We used to go up front, but it got a little bit crammed up there and a little bit packed up there, so now we've moved to the back and we've got a perfect view," said another.
Hart Plaza offers plenty of skyline to view the colorful pyrotechnics. Through the afternoon, the park filled up. There were families with blankets, chairs and plenty of food. It was a time for moms, dads, brothers and sisters to get together and create memories.
"When I was younger, we used to play this game called Concentration to pass the hours because we'd get here really early so we'd get a good spot," said Dawne Chinavare.
Alongside the families was an overwhelming showing of police presence, not just Detroit Police officers, but border patrol agents were on-duty along with sheriff's deputies and Michigan State Police officers. They were not messing around. When the 6:00 p.m. curfew went into effect, cops started rounding up the violators. Anyone under the age of 18 caught without an I.D. and a legal guardian was handcuffed and taken into custody.
"It is our intent to give everyone the benefit of a doubt to allow them to have a wonderful time down here, but any inkling of anything other than that, that would disrupt this family-friendly environment, we're going to be very swift and decisive in removing those elements from downtown," said Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee.
"Last year and a few years back, there's been a lot of negativity going on, so it's good that we've got the police out here this year," said Quentin Russell.
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Kids with faces painted awaiting Monday night's fireworks show in downtown Detroit. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
