(WXYZ) — Just east of Downtown Detroit, Cred Cafe is evolving into a go-to spot for the neighborhood. The coffee shop, speakeasy, and member's lounge opened eight months ago, but the owners already have much to celebrate, especially President Joe Biden's visit on May 19th.
"This is the door the president came in... we call it the presidential entrance," said Willie Mac Jr, General Manager and part owner of Cred Cafe.
"This is what you are officially calling it now?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"Yeah! You don't go through this door unless you have a reason to go through," said Mac Jr.
Nearly 40 people were invited, including Willie's friends and family.
"It was people sitting at all the seats, and he went to each section and greeted everyone at each section," said Mac Jr.
"How did he choose this location?" asked Javed.
"He really wanted to meet the family that benefited from MotorCity Match and the bill that passed," said Mac Jr.
But Mac Jr. says the two-hour event took a week to plan, and the White House staff and Secret Service agents scouted the location.
"1st day was a couple of hours, 2nd day was a couple more, third day was more, it just kept increasing," said Mac Jr.
They even turned off the security cameras to limit the number of eyes on the president.
VIDEO EXTRA: Willie Mac Jr. describes President Biden's visit
"Yeah, they put a tent outside, so when he pulled up you couldn't see him get out walking. There were snipers on the roof, DPD, fire department, state troopers... coast guard... you felt the presence everywhere," said Mac Jr.
That is just one of many resources the Secret Service deploys and depends on. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says the Secret Service agency does a great job protecting presidents and presidential candidates.
"But having said that, they are a small organization. They are smaller than some police departments, in terms of total agents, so they need to rely on both state, local to assist with movement of protectees, and that's where we come in," said Sheriff Bouchard.
Detroit Police Deputy Chief Arnold Williams says that while the Secret Service Agency takes the lead, traffic management and monitoring the outer perimeter are usually among the many tasks handled by a local police department.
"We have a certain amount that we detail to it and, in addition to that, we also utilize our real-time crime center to see if there is anything on social media or any chatter or any type of intelligence, we can use to make that the visit is safe," said Deputy Chief Williams.
After every visit, the planning is reviewed to explore ways to enhance security. And that's one thing Sheriff Bouchard is busy with after the assassination attempt of former President Trump this past weekend.
"As commander of a large agency or intelligence commander we begin to analyze it and question ourselves, is there anything else that is going to follow on? Is it going to be an isolated thing or other communities or targets and what else needs to be on activated footing?" said Sheriff Bouchard.
Deputy Chief Williams also says that the community at large plays an essential role in any event's overall safety and security. A general but important rule of thumb is: if you see something, say something.
Meanwhile, Mac Jr. is super excited about the locker that President Biden signed while visiting at the cafe along with the White House memorabilia he got from DC when he got invited to the White House for a 4th of July party.
Cred Cafe is open from Wednesday to Saturday (10am-10pm). To learn more, head to @cred.cafe on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/cred.cafe/?hl=en
