DPS to Spend $41.7M on Safety Plan

School is supposed to be a safe haven for our children, but as we see all too often, it can sometimes become a very dangerous place. We witnessed that a year-and-a-half ago when a teenager was shot and killed at Henry Ford High School in Detroit.

Thursday, Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb promised to do all he can to prevent that type of tragedy from happening again. The district is putting millions of dollars behind a new safety plan.

"When parents bring their children to school, to any of the Detroit Public (Schools), they want to know that their kids are going to be safe," said DPS Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb.

Detroit Public Schools are preparing to spend nearly $42-million from a bond issue to improve safety and security at schools.

New student badges and a swipe system will be installed. New and more cameras will be placed at all public schools.

Wednesday, a homemade bomb a student set off at the Phoenix Academy heightened parents concerns.

The new cameras could have helped at the Phoenix Academy.

"The cameras, unfortunately, that were in that building yesterday were not functioning that day, and that's a problem we've had. If you look at most of the cameras in our schools right now, they are old, and, I think, having this new camera system in there will ensure that we have the cameras up. That they'll be running 24/7," said DPS Inspector General John Bell.

A new headquarters for the DPS Public Safety Department will be built. Several retired Detroit Police officers are now in leadership roles for Detroit Public Schools.

"A year ago, we had a public safety department in the Detroit Public Schools, but today we have not only a safety department but we have a very experienced police department," Bobb said.

After the 16-year-old was killed at Henry Ford High School and three others wounded, security was certainly beefed up. Bobb says he's going to continue his experiment with having private security officers supplement the Detroit Public Schools security forces.