Today, the City of Detroit is putting on a bit of a show downtown: A press conference is being held near Hart Plaza to unveil the first batch of new police cars and ambulances that's part of an $8 million initiative fueled by donations from guys like Roger Penske and more.
As my fellow Detroit Jalop Aaron Foley noted previously, these cruisers scream can you see me now? I mean, check out that image on the side. It makes the city skyline pop, right?
Perhaps when things die down today, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, who will eventually use the private funds to lease 100 cop cars and 23 ambulances, can answer a question photographer Bobby Alcott has: Where'd you get that image?
Alcott, a local photog from Grosse Pointe, is alleging the DDP ripped the image from a copyrighted photo he took in 2006. (Here's a link to the shot.)
"Ready for THIS? Detroit is unveiling 100 new police cars right now — and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, who has donated $8 million to lease the cars to the City, has STOLEN MY PHOTO to use on the cars," Alcott wrote on his Facebook Thursday.
There's some clear-cut similarities between the two, but we'll avoid weighing in here. Feel free to hash away with your thoughts below.
We're chatting with Alcott later this afternoon to find out more, and we reached out to the DDP and mayor's office for a response. We'll add all of that here as soon as we get something.
Photog Alleges Image On New Detroit Cop Cars Is His Copyrighted Photo