DTE Energy is helping to make the streets of Detroit safer
DETROIT—It was the perfect sting: A “bait” car was placed by DTE Energy in a section of midtown Detroit that had been plagued with thefts of navigation units from SUVs. Hidden cameras inside the car caught the license plate of a burgundy Monte Carlo involved in the thefts. A few days later, DTE’s security team spotted the vehicle and notified law enforcement, and three suspects were subsequently charged with 25 counts of larceny.
Utilities don’t often find themselves in the role of law enforcement, but DTE has stepped up to work with Detroit police officers to stop “smash and grabs” cold.
DTE’s cooperation with police departments in Detroit and at Wayne State University has helped reduce crime in the utility’s neighborhood by 70 percent since 2012, and has led to more than 100 arrests. In the last year alone, the company’s Crime Deterrence Initiative led to at least 22 arrests and put a stop to two major auto theft-related crime sprees.
Michael Lynch, DTE’s chief security officer, told American Gas that the company had already been using similar technology to catch people stealing natural gas through illegal hookups, which is a serious safety hazard. “One of our priorities is to be a force for growth in the communities that we serve,” Lynch said. After DTE started working to clean up the neighborhood, other businesses began to do the same, and the utility has since been asked to help out in other areas of the city. —Monica von Dobeneck