Guards at this private Detroit college could soon become police officers

(Photo: Facebook, University of Detroit-Mercy)

Wayne State University's campus police helped keep Midtown safe when the area was transitioning from its life as the Cass Corridor. The University of Detroit-Mercy could soon chart a similar course in the area of Livernois and McNichols.

Guards at the school are preparing to become certified police officers with the aim of bringing down high crime rates in the neighborhood, Axios Detroit reports.

Roughly 30 Detroit Mercy security staff, who were previously police officers, could get certified. They would have the power to make arrests in designated areas outside its campuses, including the main northwest Detroit one.

State legislation passed in 2016 allows this for private colleges.

Officers would remain focussed on the campuses, an attorney with the school said. The nonprofit development organization in the area, Live6 Alliance, says the increased police presence comes is part of a larger public safety plan that includes continued efforts to upgrade the area's commercial corridors and to the address persistent quality of life issues like blight.