Kimmel employee honored by Detroit Police Department

Pictured, above: Ken Schutt, center, holds the certificate presented to him
by the Detroit Police Department and the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners.

Ken Schutt, chief operating of officer of Detroit-based Kimmel Scrap Iron & Metal, has been recognized by the Detroit Police Department (DPD) for volunteer work performed on behalf of the department’s Second Precinct in west Detroit.

Schutt has for several years served as Kimmel’s representative to the BUOY (Business United with Officers and Youth) program in the Second Precinct. That program, according to Schutt, creates and organizes events designed to bring together police officers and neighborhood youth in cooperative and social settings.

BUOY programs in the Second Precinct have helped draw some 200 young people to a Halloween event hosted at the precinct, attracted young people and their families to a Christmas season event and also helps the precinct play host to a National Night Out event, where people from throughout the precinct’s neighborhood can meet DPD officers while enjoying arcade and midway-style games such as a dunk tank.

“It’s all about kids interacting with police,” says Schutt. In addition to special events, he says BUOY also helps send out neighborhood police officers to go to schools to talk about the value of local policing or how young people can seek out positive role models.

Schutt received a Certificate of Recognition in early July from the city’s Board of Police Commissioners, which consists of community leaders and members who act as citizen liaisons to the DPD. The certificate recognizes Schutt for “outstanding service” via “involvement in the community and services to the city of Detroit.”

Kimmel Scrap Iron & Metal was founded in 1930 and has been based in Detroit since 1950. (More about the company can be found in this 2017 profile story.) 

In addition to serving with BUOY, Schutt also is helping recruit new corporate members to the program. Schutt says for just a $100 annual dues amount, companies based in the Second Precinct can get involved and further the goodwill built by the program. “A lot of companies very quickly see the value of that $100,” he states.