Part of that is just the contrast between the relaxed (to say the least) way that Detroit cops used to patrol the island and the way the Staties do it.

Drawing the Belle Isle straw was a pretty good deal for a Detroit cop. Pretty much the best posting possible. Low crime, good views, plenty of places to relax.

In decades of hanging out on the island, I don’t remember seeing too many flashing lights on cop cars. The most visible presence by city cops was usually when two or three cop cars would be pulled over at one of the shelters when a big gathering was going on, with the officers chatting up folks and chowing down on ribs, burgers or hot dogs.

Many summer days, a cop or two on scooter patrol would be down at the far eastern end of the island, hanging out at Hipster Beach, watching the young tattooed women in bikinis or, depending on their tastes, the young tattooed men in cutoffs.

I don’t know how many times I’ve run past the lighthouse with my dog on a hot summer day, and a squad car would be parked under a nearby shade tree, windows down, breeze blowing through off the water, the officer behind the wheel fast asleep.

It’s been too early in the season to catch any state cops sleeping at the wheel, but I don’t think that’s going to be much of a worry come warm weather. One of the most visible signs of state involvement so far, other than all the dead trees that have been cut down and stacked up, are the blue cop cars, either parked behind barriers of one kind or another, waiting for speeders, or parked behind a recent speeder, lights flashing.

I’m out on the island two or three lunch times a week. It’s a rare visit to the island, these days, where I don’t see a state cop with a car pulled over, or a car being hooked up to a tow truck under the supervision of an officer