That’s possible, and could have even made a nice twist to the episode. There’s a small national park not far from the crime scene, and if memory serves, there was some talk about expanding the park farther along the riverfront. It would have been interesting if, say, the feds had just resently purchased the land the crime was committed on. However, nothing of the sort was mentioned in the episode, which means either a) the writers sloppily forgot to explain that the detectives were investigating a Federal case, or, more likely, b) the writers sloppily forgot to check if Michigan did indeed have the death penalty. That’s sort of disappointing for a key plot element.
Context here–two guys from out of town get snookered in the Big City-- implies the writers meant to say “western Michigan.”
These dialogue/plot snafus are a little jarring, but hopefully the writers work them out. It’s kind of fun to watch the action and try to figure out where each scene was shot. And the show is shhoting in my neighborhood this weekend, so seeing that will be fun.
The Detroit Police Department has been under a federal consent decree since 2003. This resent article mentions it in passing: “Godbee inherits a department that has gone through three police chiefs over the past two years and is under a 2003 federal consent decree over the use of force and the treatment of crime suspects.”
My wife happened to show me this scene earlier today, and I wasn’t listening to the setup but that chase started in front of Slows on Michigan Ave and appeared to be filmed entirely on the real path to the old train station - they’re about a quarter of a mile apart.
The Feds have been pondering bringing Federal charges against the Kwame admin, including high level police . You can not imagine what a mess the Detroit system was the last few years.
My problem with the last episode was when the homeless guy said the “door was slightly ajar”. That didn’t ring true to me. Otherwise, I am just enjoying seeing Detroit and enjoying the soundtrack, not fact-checking everything. I think it’s a decent cop show, I like that there are 2 active cases, not just one, so more action and less soap opera than some other shows.