Melvindale Police Chief Dan Jones
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – The city’s police officers have formed a task force to target criminal activity at the city’s low rent motels, focusing their activities during the less demanding evening and night shifts.
The police officers run the license plates at the city’s motels, looking for expired or improper plates – those not registered to the vehicle to which they are attached – as well looking for unregistered vehicles or those without insurance. Running the information through the Law Enforcement Information Network can also determine if the vehicle owner has an invalid driver’s license or has active arrest warrants.
Low rent motels can also attract people involved with illegal drugs and human trafficking.
Police Chief Dan Jones said police officers approached him with a proposal to check the license plates at the city’s motels during the evening and nighttime hours predominately, when there are not as many dispatched calls for officers on patrol.
Jones said the Police Department has received complaints about prostitution and narcotics use at lower rent lodgings.
“The officers have set up their task force to enforce traffic coming in and out, doing surveillance and taking a lot of action to stop that from happening,” he said.
Jones said police officers are monitoring all of the motels within the city, since it would not be fair to focus on just some.
“All of them are under the same scrutiny because you can’t just single out one motel,” he said. “You have to be fair across the board.”
Jones said there are six motels within the city limits.
“The officers have been getting complaints and are going out there and working the motels,” he said. “I would venture to say that word is going to spread pretty quick that don’t come to Melvindale if you do drugs or prostitution.”
Jones said if someone gets pulled over for an improper plate or a traffic violation it may not go well for them if they are found to be doing something illegal.
He said they tow vehicles with expired or improper plates, those not registered and those without vehicle insurance.
Jones said they will occasionally find stolen license plates as well.
“They’ve been doing a good job,” he said.
Jones said it is the responsibility of innkeepers to make sure that there is no criminal activity occurring at the business.
“If it is allowed, we are going to stop it,” he said.
Sgt. Matthew Furman provided 15 redacted police reports from Aug. 6 to 9 to illustrate some of the activity that the task force has encountered, with vehicles being impounded and towed, and people found with active arrest warrants:
At the Melrose Motel on Aug. 6, three incidents were documented.
At 5:12 a.m. Aug. 6, an improper license plate was found on a vehicle, and the person in possession of the vehicle had not transferred the registration to themselves. Of the couple, the woman had active arrest warrants. Before the vehicle was impounded, two crack pipes, a copper scouring pad and suspected crack cocaine were found in the vehicle. The couple was released at the scene.
At 5:52 a.m. Aug. 6, a vehicle without a license plate was found with a woman sleeping in the back seat who said she had run out of money to pay for a motel room. She said she uses crack cocaine, and drug paraphernalia was found near her vehicle, which was filled with clothes and garbage. The vehicle was impounded and towed, and the woman was released at the scene.
At 6 a.m. Aug. 6, a vehicle was found with a license plate on the wrong vehicle, which had been canceled for fraudulent insurance. When police officers ran the vehicle identification number through the LEIN, the vehicle was found to have been stolen July 26 from Dearborn. It was unknown who had parked the vehicle at the motel, but it was impounded and towed.
At the Melrose Motel at 8:56 a.m. on Aug. 7, a vehicle was spotted with an expired license plate and no insurance. The vehicle was titled to a person with numerous active traffic warrants. A man sitting in the car admitted that he had driven it to the location to pick someone up. The man was shaking, and he admitting to being a drug user in the past. The vehicle was impounded and towed.
At the Red Roof Inn at 12:37 p.m. Aug. 8, a woman was found in an uninsured vehicle. After she drove away from the inn, a traffic stop was initiated. She was cited for having no insurance, and her vehicle was impounded and towed.
At the Mel Plaza Motel on the morning of Aug. 8, five incidents were documented.
At 4:46 a.m. Aug. 8, an expired and improper license plate was found. A check of the VIN in LEIN showed the car should have had a different plate attached. Before the vehicle was impounded and towed, the vehicle owner approached and provided a vehicle registration, but admitted that it was uninsured.
At 5:15 a.m. Aug. 8, an improper plate was found on a vehicle. After running the VIN through LEIN, the vehicle was found to have no license plate registered to it, and no insurance on file. The vehicle was impounded and towed.
At 5:30 a.m. Aug. 8, a vehicle was found with a plate that was canceled for fraudulent insurance, and the vehicle did not have any insurance at the current time. The vehicle was impounded and towed.
At 5:43 a.m. Aug. 8, a vehicle was found without a license plate. The VIN was run through LEIN, and a plate was registered to the vehicle, but the vehicle was not insured, so it was impounded and towed.
At 5:56 a.m. Aug. 8, a vehicle was found with no plate, no registration and no insurance on file. It was titled to a financial institution in Southfield. It was impounded and towed.
At the Melrose Motel on Aug. 8, two incidents were documented.
At 9:06 a.m. Aug. 8, a pickup with an expired plate not registered to any vehicle was discovered. When the VIN was run through LEIN, it was found to be titled to a financial institution in Southfield, and it did not have a license plate assigned to it, nor was it insured. When the vehicle was searched, a title was found inside with the name of a man who had numerous arrest warrants out of Dearborn and Detroit. When the man exited his hotel room, he was advised to take care of his warrants and was told how to get his vehicle out of impound.
At 1:13 p.m. Aug. 8, a moped with a tag that expired in 2015 was parked in the lot. The man did not have a registration for the moped and he had a revoked driver’s license. He said he was there to help a friend move into the motel. The moped was impounded, and the man was told if he did not retrieve it, he could face additional ramifications.
The woman he was with came forward. She was found to have arrest warrants for dangerous drugs and for fraud. She said she had used heroin 30 minutes earlier and needed medical attention. Dearborn first responders arrived and transported her to Corewell Health Hospital – Dearborn.
At the Motor City Inn and Suites on Aug. 8, two incidents were documented.
At 9:42 a.m. Aug. 8, a vehicle was found without a license plate. When the VIN was run through LEIN, it was found that the vehicle’s last license plate had expired more than a year ago, and it was not insured. The registered vehicle owner had a canceled driver’s license and active arrest warrants with Wayne County, River Rouge and Detroit. The vehicle was impounded and towed.
At 10 a.m. Aug. 8, a vehicle license plate run through LEIN indicated that the registered owner had a suspended driver’s license and a warrant out of Warren for driving while her license was suspended. The vehicle was also uninsured.
When the woman exited her motel room and attempted to leave, a traffic stop was initiated, and the woman screamed “no, no, no” in frustration. She then began to yell and argue. She did not obey the police officer’s instructions, and was eventually handcuffed. She resisted being placed in a police vehicle and unsuccessfully tried to kick a police officer.
The vehicle was impounded and towed, and the woman was cited for no insurance, driving while her license was suspended and for disorderly conduct. At the Dearborn police station, she was uncooperative during the booking process.
At the Melrose Motel at 11:29 a.m. Aug. 9, a man leaving the motel was stopped for failing to signal a turn. He advised the officer that he had a firearm in the vehicle and a permit to carry it. The man was found to have a Friend of the Court warrant for child support out of Oakland County. He was taken to the Dearborn jail and his vehicle was impounded and towed.
The man’s wife, who was staying at the nearby motel but who was not in the vehicle during the traffic stop, walked over to the police officers during the traffic stop. She had multiple arrest warrants, and attempted to proposition the police officer. She was transferred to Southgate police officers for an active warrant, and was combative while being transferred.