First Lieutenant Ken Dilg (pictured in Michigan State Police uniform), a 1997 graduate
of Ferris State University, joined with organizers of a peaceful protest Friday, June
5, in the city of Detroit. Dilg was tasked to develop the MSP operational plan for
the protest, which saw up to 1,000 people march across the MacArthur bridge to call
for justice, following the recent killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. (Image
received courtesy of Major Emmitt McGowan, MSP)A group of nearly 1,000 people, according to media outlets, marched in Detroit across
the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle on Friday, June 5. The march, part of a call for
justice in the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, included a Ferris State
University alumnus and current Michigan State Police administrator.
Alumnus Ken Dilg, who serves as the section commander of a multi-jurisdictional drug
task force in the Detroit metropolitan area, said that he was tasked by MSP District
Two Commander Tom Deasy to develop an operational plan for the event.
“We reached out to the event organizers, including Ken Snapp, a former Detroit mayoral
candidate,” Dilg said. “We offered them suggestions on safety since they planned to
march across the Belle Isle Bridge to a stage in the park. We found the organizers
to be very responsive, which included our gathering early on the morning of the march
to complete a walk-through and review our plans.”
Dilg was one semester from completing his Bachelor of Science in Business Management,
in 1994, when he was admitted to the Michigan State Police Academy. He returned to
Ferris and earned his degree in 1997.
Dilg said that the Michigan State Police units in a support role at the march site
blocked traffic so that marchers could safely cross the bridge. He asked organizers
if those on-site officers could join the march.
“We wanted to show support for this peaceful cause while helping to ensure a safe
protest,” Dilg said. “The organizers suggested that we spread out among the participants,
so I joined organizers at the front of the procession with my associate, Major Emmitt
McGowan, of the MSP Field Services Bureau nearby. A number of our troopers and Department
of Natural Resources conservation officers walked with marchers along the route, talking
with those near them.”
Former Detroit Lions football player Joique Bell was among the organizers and presenters
at the march, with U.S. Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, Michigan Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson and Detroit City Councilman James Tate among other notable participants.
Dilg said it was an honor to have a role in the event.
“I give full credit to the people of Detroit and the metropolitan area for their focus
on a peaceful protest,” Dilg said.