Closed State Prison To Reopen In Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A state prison on Detroit's east side will be reopened as a temporary detention center for anyone arrested in the city.
Mayor Dave Bing's office said the summer opening of the Mound Correctional Facility will free up as many as 50 police officers for street patrols. It was closed by the state in January 2012.
"It's going to be a good thing for the city of Detroit," said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Ross Marlan. "It's going to allow the 40 to 50 police officers who are manning those lockups now to be moved out onto the streets."
Officers currently are assigned to five police lockup facilities and a holding unit at Detroit Receiving Hospital where people who are arrested are held until their arraignments. Prisoners then are released to the Wayne County sheriff's office.
Bing's office says the five police lockups will be closed and that the Mound facility will hold up to 200 people. The city will pay the state about $8 million a year to operate the site.
The city launched an initiative last month that focuses on crime hot spots, drug arrests and enforcing traffic laws.
The Mound facility is expected to reopen in about three months.
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