UTICA, Mich. – Officials in Utica are hoping new emergency stations will help deter crime in a park that's had a lot of it lately.
Grant Park has had a homicide and a dog left for dead in a matter of four months.
A 3-year-old pit bull mix was tortured and left to die in the park last month, and in September, Michael Shereda was stabbed to death at his grandchildren's birthday party after asking a man to stop doing drugs near the children.
Utica Mayor Thom Dionne wants to install two emergency stations in Grant Park.
The Downtown Development Authority will cover the cost, which won't be higher than $15,000 for now.
A West Michigan company, Code Blue, has been awarded the job.
There are add-on options such as cameras or automated external defibrillators, and for now there will be a phone that connects to Utica's dispatch center with an emergency blue light.
Dionne, who's also a Grosse Pointe Farms police officer, said the light is a reminder.
"Police can be there at any moment to handle a situation," Dionne said.
Utica residents are split on the decision.
"I'm not opposed to the cost," one resident said. "It's a drop in the bucket."
"I wouldn't be for it," another resident said. "Today's world is different. Most people have mobile phones on their person."
Resident Robert Galasso said he thinks there's a different motive.
"Whoever is initiating the idea, I see politics," Galasso said. "(They're saying), 'Here's what we're going to make people feel safer.'"
"There has to be a response," Dionne said. "Residents are demanding that something be done."
There a community meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Utica to talk about safety in the city, and the emergency stations will be a topic.