Chief Haddad at a press conference.

DEARBORN — On Thursday, July 16, the Dearborn Police Department held a press conference with multiple law enforcement agencies in the Henry Ford Centennial Library auditorium to share details of their “Operation Blue Light III” initiative.

Introduced in 2014, with the participation of agencies from Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Livonia, Redford, Taylor, Westland, Wayne State University, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI, Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, among others, the initiative is described as a collaborative effort to disrupt the criminal process and improve safety on a regional level. 

The agencies shared data and resources and worked together to provide high visibility traffic stops, among other practices. Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad noted that since the introduction of the initiative, it has continued to expand with additional law enforcement agencies taking part. 

Shared border streets, retail areas, residential areas, school zones and places of worship all received special concentration. 

The agencies collaborated between June 22 and July 4 to apprehend individuals residing in and around Wayne County for crimes that included larceny, theft and other offenses. They also worked together to confiscate illegal weapons. 

During this period, the agencies involved in the initiative stopped 21,570 vehicles, which led to the arrests of more than 3,100 individuals. Of those, 1,716 were linked to misdemeanor offenses; 887 to warrant arrests and 503 were felony arrests. 

The agencies also confiscated 95 weapons during this period. 

At the press conference, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade discussed the importance of the initiative and how agencies being able to share data with each other has led to the sweeping of criminals off the streets. 

Police in Dearborn arrested several individuals who had outstanding warrants in other parts of the country. Those arrested included three women committing a larceny at Wal-Mart on July 1. Two of them had warrants in Massachusetts, while the third had a warrant in New York for previous larcenies.

A man and woman were also arrested on July 1 after officers stopped a vehicle on Ford Road for an invalid plate. The male driver had a warrant arrest out of Southfield for domestic violence, while the female passenger had a warrant in Warren for a moving violation causing death. After being arrested, they were transferred to those agencies. 

The Detroit office of the U.S. Marshal Service also participated in the operation and asked for assistance in capturing 12 fugitives. The Dearborn Police Department captured 10 of the fugitives. 

Deputy Aaron Garcia, supervisor of the U.S. Marshal Service, applauded Dearborn for taking the lead on this initiative, as it has helped the agency capture fugitives who often get lost in the shuffle once they escape a particular jurisdiction. 

“A lot of times these fugitives think they can leave the city or state and be in the clear,” Garcia said. “But these guys will go out there and find these fugitives anywhere they are at and bring them back to justice. This is just another highlight the operation brought. What we do as a task force with all of our police departments and the cooperation we had is what makes it successful.”