Judge to Tour Detroit, But Without RoboCop

Detroit’s bankruptcy judge is planning to take a bus tour of the struggling city. And the judge sounded a little worried about who’s got his back.

“We’re talking about our personal safety here,” said U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes during a hearing on the planned three-hour tour.

Too bad RoboCop isn’t around to protect him. (This is Detroit, after all.) Instead, he may settle for a group of U.S. Marshals.

Still, Judge Rhodes has more guts than some of the city’s Wall Street creditors, who backed out of a similar trip when they were required to sign waivers in case of injury or death.

But never fear, citizens of Detroit: Robo is coming.

As WSJ’s Katy Stech reports, the city wants the judge to sign off on a bankruptcy-exit plan that calls for $1.4 billion in blight-removal projects but slashes payments to the city’s retirees and bondholders.

The date of the tour and its route through the city, which covers about 140 square miles, will likely remain a secret for safety reasons.

Write to Patrick Fitzgerald at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @PatFitzgerald23.