Detroit Police Chief: Safety is priority number one at Downtown Fireworks Monday

After a violent and deadly weekend in the city some hope the focus for the show is simply family fun.

"My only concern would be young adults not knowing how to act. A lot of violence focused on young adults," says attendee Nickie Avery. 

Detroit Police chief James Craig tried calming fears Monday afternoon, hours before the show letting people know his officers are working to make the fireworks show a safe and enjoyable experience.

Craig says his officers are excited and ready to make the event an experience families won't forget. "The officers are energetic and committed to making this a safe event," said Craig. 

The fireworks show brings thousands to downtown Detroit every year and even though there have been incidents in the past, Craig expects there to be very little if any violence this year, even despite a minor setback for his administration. Craig took steps toward crowd control by pushing for a 6 p.m. curfew that would have prevent kids 17-years-old and under from being downtown for a three day period without an adult. but the Detroit City Council rejected it.

When asked how many officers will be on fireworks duty, Craig said it will be more than enough to keep things in order. "I'm confident that we have sufficient staffing and not only staffing but our partnering with other law enforcement agencies so we have sufficient staffing."

Chief Craig says the biggest threat are potential storms that have pushed the fireworks show up one hour earlier but Craig says if the show is rescheduled they can handle it. "We have fixed deployment so it would be a challenge but could we get it done? Absolutely."