A Dearborn police report said the department found no criminal activity and closed its investigation of the Edward Hotel after a two-hour search on Sept. 24, according to the report reviewed by The Detroit News. The newspaper reported that detectives searched the 722-room property, interviewed site employees and spoke by phone with the owner. A security guard told police that as many as 100 people had lived there for about a year, the newspaper reported.
The search warrant listed suspected child abuse or neglect, unlawful occupancy and possible human trafficking as grounds for investigation, The Detroit News reported, citing the affidavit. A deputy fire marshal’s Sept. 22 account said she had seen dozens of people, including small children, on the hotel’s 12th floor. The affidavit also noted that several rooms on the 10th floor were chained and padlocked from the outside.
Police searched the property roughly 36 hours after the deputy fire marshal’s report, according to The Detroit News. The Wayne County prosecutor’s office told the newspaper that the warrant had been reviewed in a timely fashion. The account does not explain the interval between the report and the search.
The people the security guard said had lived at the hotel were no longer there when detectives arrived, The Detroit News reported. Police said they found no criminal activity and determined that workers were using the padlocked rooms to secure equipment. The department then closed the investigation, according to the newspaper.
The hotel had been shut down in 2018 after city inspections identified fire-safety and maintenance violations. ClickOnDetroit reported that the violations included plumbing leaks, broken elevators and damaged ceiling tiles; the city deemed the property unfit for human occupancy before its Dec. 14 closure. The Press and Guide reported that the hotel is at 600 Town Center Drive near Fairlane Town Center.
Who conducts fire-safety inspections?
Michigan law authorizes the state fire marshal and the chief of an organized fire department, among other specified officials, to inspect buildings within their jurisdictions for fire hazards, according to the Michigan Legislature. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs says its Bureau of Fire Services Field Services Division inspects new construction, additions and renovations in state-regulated facilities, and conducts annual inspections when licensing agreements require them. These descriptions do not identify which specific inspection standards applied to the Edward Hotel.
