Mayor Mary Sheffield on Tuesday, May 12, announced details of a city-wide, summer-long initiative, which will provide activities for Detroit’s youth in an effort to boost public safety and curb the trend of increased violence during the summer months in the community.
Called “Occupy the Summer,” the program builds upon Sheffield’s “Occupy the Corner” initiative she started while serving on the City Council. This new program will run for 10 weeks during the summer months and feature extended hours at nine recreation centers, neighborhood activations every Friday and the return of the popular Midnight Basketball program.
The official kickoff for Occupy the Summer will be June 12 at the Adams Butzel Complex recreation center, 10500 Lyndon St, on Detroit’s northwest side.
“Public safety is more than the absence of violence, but it is also the presence of community and opportunity, and belonging. And the mission of Occupy the Corner is to engage, connect and empower inner city communities to improve their quality of life,” Sheffield said, adding the initiative first kicked off after witnessing how her friend and New York council member handled gun violence prevention in his community.
Several community partners, including Community Violence Intervention groups, will provide Occupy the Summer programming, which can be found online at www.OccupyTheSummer.com or their Instagram page at instagram.com/occupythesummer.
Tuesday’s announcement follows Sheffield’s April announcement to partner with a “Teen Takeover” group, where she devised a youth cabinet to ensure young people can propose ideas to create safe spaces for them in the city. The mayor’s office formed the team a week after teenagers swarmed downtown, in what was initially planned as a day out to eat and be in each other’s company, though it quickly grew into large crowds startling business owners and visitors after being met by a heavy police presence.
The initiative also is meant to help prevent youth violence during the summer months, when the city typically sees more bloodshed. The Occupy the Summer initiative expands on the city’s six-point plan to curb summer violence — it calls for neighborhood teams to tackle crime street by street, crack down on establishments with late-night activity, and manage crowds and curfews at block parties. It also aims to defuse tensions before they boil over in residential areas — and to bring young people to the table to shape the spaces and events available to them.
“We know as the temperatures rise, our children, our seniors, our community, everyone is waiting to come outside to enjoy, to be a part of … the city of Detroit, as it is,” Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said. “But we also know when folks are out engaging, it is more active. We see, year after year, gun violence and violence in general start to rise.”
Last summer, from June 1, 2025, to Sept. 30, 2025, the total number of youths 17 and under shot and killed was eight, according to data provided by Detroit police. The total number of youths shot and injured was 24. And the total number of youths charged with weapons offenses was 92.
Among the victims last summer: a 4-year-old and 18-year-old gunned down at a playground and another teen injured because a teen suspect was mad someone ripped off his ski mask, police said. A month later, a 6-year-old was shot dead in his own home by a stray bullet. Soon after, two more children under 10 were shot and injured in a drive by shooting while sleeping.
The city’s response had been to crack down on curfews by treating reports of minors out past curfew as a top priority for police response, an increased police presence throughout the night by approving overtime, and heftier fees for parents whose children are caught violating curfew — a move that prompted heavy debate.
Sheffield, at the time, while still on the campaign trail, described the curfews and increased fines as “one tool in the toolbox,” and emphasized the need for more preventive tactics.
Weekly activations
Neighborhoods across each of the city’s seven council districts will feature activities, city resources, local vendors and cultural programming.
Sheffield’s special projects and events coordinator, Tyler Searcy’s daughter, Lennox Searcy has been to five Occupy the Corner events. She said her favorite activities include face painting, using rides, playing with her brothers and swimming in the pool.
“It’s important because my mommy works here, so I just come for fun,” Searcy, 7, said, grinning at the fact that recreation centers will be open late.
The initiative will include “Summer Fridays” activations from 5 – 8 p.m. every Friday, including:
- June 19: Juneteenth Celebration at Crowell Recreation Center
- July 10: Skate night with Royal Skateland at Corrigan Park
- July 17: Sports night at Lasky Recreation Center
- July 19 (Sunday): Hoopfest in partnership with NW Goldberg Cares at Curtis Jones Park
- July 24: Small business and Sheff Tank Pitch Competition at O’Shea Park
- July 31: Arts and culture night at Palmer Park
- Aug. 7 Bike Night at Joe Louis Greenway Pavillion
- Aug. 14: Finale in partnership with Metro Detroit Youth Day at Diehl Club
Midnight Basketball
Young adults between 18-26 years old can join Midnight Basketball and receive free jerseys, shoes and haircuts. The activity is expected to provide mentorship and wraparound services on top of the fun. There will be a men’s and women’s league at Heilmann, Adams Butzel and Kemeny Recreation Centers.
Registration is open until Sunday, May 24. Searcy urges anyone interested to sign up online as soon as possible.
The men’s league will play every Saturday, starting June 13. And the women’s league will run every Thursday, starting June 18, for a seven-week season with a championship game at the end.
Volunteers and partnerships
Residents who are interested in volunteering for the Midnight Basketball leagues or Summer Fridays events can sign up online.
Those who are unable to volunteer but wish to contribute can email OccupytheSummer@detroitmi.gov for sponsorship or donation opportunities.
The city’s budget includes $1.5 million to run the program, though other organizations stepped in to help fund, collaborate or expend programming. The initiative’s title sponsors include The Sterling Group and Amazon.
Detroit City FC Youth Coach Duane Daniels said he will provide accessibility to kids interested in soccer, along with clinics and weekly programming stemming from visits to Detroit Public Schools to recruit kids to summer leagues. Daniels said he also expects to run a sports equipment drive to youth whose families cannot afford new gear.
“It’s more important to me because I come from an area where I’ve seen trauma and violence, so I think if I’m someone from the community that’s visible and I have that relatability to kids, I can expose them to something that they probably never had exposure to before. And, hopefully, it’ll keep them out of those harmful environments and give them more opportunity…it takes somebody from the community to expose you to something that could potentially save your life, hopefully.”
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana. Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her atasahouri@freepress.com.