DETROIT – A Detroit mother says her teenage children were detained by police ahead of the Ford Fireworks on Monday night, even though she was only blocks away when the city’s 8 p.m. youth curfew took effect.
Teia Sams said she and her family were downtown, preparing to watch the show, when she let her older children and godson walk a few blocks ahead along Jefferson Avenue while she stayed back with the younger kids. Then she saw her teens with the police.
“I’m like, what’s going on, I’m their mom,” Sams said she told police. “My name is Teia, here’s my ID. What do you need from me? Can I get my children? He’s like, “Well, there’s a curfew, and you should’ve been here.” And I’m like, ‘I was here. I was walking behind them; they were in front of me, but I was here.’”
Video Sams shared shows her two children and her godson being detained on Monday evening.
“As a parent, very frightening,” Sams said.
“I was not expecting to be detained, and it never happened before, so I was confused,” her daughter, Mya, said.
As part of Detroit’s security plan for the Ford Fireworks, an 8 p.m. curfew was in place for anyone under 17.
Those without a parent or guardian with them were detained.
On Monday night, Detroit police reported 180 curfew violations.
Sams said she understands the need for rules and the curfew designed to keep crowds safe, but believes there should be some flexibility in how they are enforced.
“The curfew should be in effect,” Sams said.
What upset her most, she said, was what happened after her children were taken into custody.
Sams said she spent the rest of the evening trying to track them down, only to be repeatedly directed to different locations.
She said one officer told her to go to Bates Street.
Another told her to check Campus Martius. Finally, someone suggested a third location, where she was ultimately reunited with the teens, but not until after the fireworks had ended.
Sams called the experience unacceptable and said the process for reuniting detained minors with their parents needs to change.
“I understand they have a job to do, it’s just a concerned parent, I think they should communicate a little bit better,” Sams said.
Local 4 reached out to the Detroit Police Department for comment. In a statement, the department said:
“The curfew was in place to ensure the safety of children as part of our overall safety plan. We are working to review this specific case. Generally, for curfew enforcement, if officers discover children in violation of the curfew – i.e. out after the posted time without a responsible adult – they will detain them to ensure the children’s safety. All officers were aware of the location where parents could pick up their detained children. With 180 curfew violations, officers worked as quickly as possible to process detained juveniles so that they could be reunited with their parents.”