Board of Police Commissioners
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Criminal Justice
Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024
3:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. EDT
1301 Third Street South Detroit, MI 48226 (Directions)
Suite 767
Join meeting on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81981390642
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Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Carole Hawke-Diop
Commissioners concluded interviews for board secretary and voted to offer the position to Lydia Garnier Barlow Jamison.
Hello, Detroit Documenters! I will be live-tweeting for the weekly meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners for DETdocumenters @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @michigan_public @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit.
01:58 PM Aug 1, 2024 CDT
Notes, twitter threads, and transcripts from previous meetings can be found at detroit.documenters.org/reporting/?age…
detroit.documenters.org/reporting/?age…
Also, Outlier Media issues regular BOPC Watch which can be found at outliermedia.org/category/syste…
outliermedia.org/category/syste…
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, email documenters@outliermedia.org with "Correction Request" subject line.
Meeting calling to order with invocation. No quorum yet but anticipated to have one when Hernandez arrives (should be coming late).
Acknowledging new commissioner Eva Garza Dewaelsche. She has served in the past and is looking forward to being back.
Present: Woods, Bernard, Dewaelsche, Smith, Moore, and Pressley. Bell and Burton asked for excused absences. Names of Carter, Hernandex, and Banks were not called.
Approving agenda, but moving chief of police report to prior to the BOPC officers report. Also approving minutes from July 2024.
Stephanie Stewart (or Tiffany Stewart?) is giving chief of police report on behalf of Chief White.
Have responded to 294 mental health service calls in the past 7 days, which brings total to 8,935 mental health service calls in 2024. This was broken down by non-violent, violent, suicide in progress, suicide threat.
Sunday July 21st, officers dispatched to Cadieux. Man had been shot on the site, was taken to the hospital and died at the hospital. Suspect taken into custody later that evening. 2nd degree murder charge.
Jos Compau and Frederick area. Fatal shooting at a robbery. Victim's vehicle was taken and later found burned. This is still under investigation.
Thursday 7/24, 500 block of Chene, officers found victim with gunshot to back. Taken to the hospital and died at hospital. Victim and suspect had been arguing about a handgun prior to the incident. Suspect is now in custody.
Domestic homicide in 8th precint on July 27th. At 19400 block of Five Points. 53 year old female victim lying in driveway with multiple gunshots. Witnesses had attempted to help and called 911 but husband came out of house and threatened witnesses with gun.
Reduction in crime YTD: 16% fewer homicides, 20% fewer non fatal shootings, 26% fewer robberies, 10% fewer violent crimes, 38% fewer carjackings.
8th precinct annex is set to open. This will house the Neighborhood Police Officers (?).
There have been 240 bock party complaints responded to this year, and there are 105 sites of frequent complaints for block parties or drag racing which are monitored regularly.
A commissioner (can't tell who!) is asking about a piece that was in the Metro Times about wrongful convictions. How are these investigated?
Officer Tiffany Stewart explained that this is handled by the Wayne County Prosecutor Conviction Integrity Unit once a convicted person reaches out to them.
Pressley asked whether these 240 calls for block parties are distinct calls or are they for the same areas. Stewart said that they are both. The officers try to by hospitable but they are clear that there are some areas which frequently receive multiple complaints.
Pressley asked about crane surveillance for downtown. Can these be used in other areas, especially for block parties? Stewart said there isn't enough money to employ these in the neighborhood.
Pressley asked about Sonya Massey. This was in IL, but was this discussed with DPD?
Stewart said that Massey's death was devastating. As a woman who is both black and blue, this brought her to tears. It was unequivocally a murder. DPD discussed these things with officers at roll call.
Commissioner Bernard talked about the problems with DPD doing too aggressive re: block parties. Some block parties are legitimately organized, and then police block off streets and make it impossible for people to gather or have their food trucks (which they have paid for) park.
Bernard mentioned this particularly with regards to the Cooley HS alumni gathering. Stewart said that, respectfully, Cooley did not have a permit for this gathering, so police were just enforcing laws on the books (parking violations, loud music, etc.)
Stewart: This is a fine line. It's on the heels of a mass shooting at a block party. We get lots of complaints about block parties and try to determine how to be sensitive.
Bernard: This also happens with Black-owned businesses and night clubs in Detroit. Black business owners should not be prevented from running businesses in the city.
Commissioner Smith: Is it true that there can't be more than 20 people gathered in a back yard? This is ridiculous.
Stewart: I know of no cases of a backyard party being shut down as long as it's not overflowing into the street and there's not loud, inappropriate music at late hours.
Chairman Woods brings back Commissioner Moore's question about wrongful convictions.
Stewart said that the investigation is three-pronged: DPD, Wayne County Prosecutor, and local courts. And DPD is responsible for dotting i's and crossing t's with body-worn camera footage, etc.
(Earlier, Commissioner Moore had also brought up the case of Reno Rossini (?), saying that the footage will be released soon and seemed to be transparent.)
Commissioner Hernandez has now arrived. Now getting ready for interview with Lydia Garner Barlow Jamison for BOPC secretary. The other candidate is leaving the room. Each candidate will be asked 6 questions and board will record responses.
Reading the names of the commissioners who were present for the first 3 interviews. Only the scores of the commissioners who were present for all 5 interviews will be counted.
First question was overall qualifications. Second question asking about how to handle an employee who refuses to comply with reasonable directives or is openly disrespectful. And how many employees has she supervised?
Employee says she would actively listen and know the appropriate protocol. Do best to understand underlying reasons why this is occurring. Spend time up front on relationship building. Must be sensitive to conciliation.
She says she has supervised 6-7 employees but does cross-training, so indirectly supervises 40+.
On third question, responding to ways she managed challenging situations with limited resources. Candidate giving example of a sticky situation in Atlanta which she handled well. Mentions how caregiving for her mother and being a girl scout helped her be prepared for this. :)
Fourth question: A way that she handled disrespectful individuals in the workplace. Mentions verbal abuse in former workplace. Having a strong support system, personally and professionally, helps one to withstand this.
Fifth question: How to manage multiple expectations from multiple stakeholders. Candidate responds that important to understand who is and who may become stakeholder. Know vision, goals, objectives. Do grunt work to align everyone with goals and objectives.
Sixth question: Best practices that you would use to comply with civilian oversight of law enforcement? Answer: engage with community, transparent public meetings, effectively monitor and manage.
Additional questions: Why are you interested in the position? Answer: I'm vested in this community! I've lived in different areas. I can bring a lot to the role and can learn a lot.
Have you attended a meeting? (yes) Have you read the city charter? (yes, have it with me)
Allowed to ask to final questions or give a closing statement. Candidate decided to give a closing statement of why she wants the job and what she can offer.
Interview is over for Lydia Garner Barlow Jamison. Moving on to candidate Preston Zacharias.
First question: How has previous education and experience prepared you for this position?
For question #2, candidate says he supervised 25-30 employees at Starbucks. He has handled tough situation or insubordination with initial attempts to understand, then pulling them aside to see what the problem is with them complying with the expectation.
For question #3, candidate understands conflicting demands and competing deadlines because he has had job and education simultaneously for most of education career. He does this by breaking down tasks by competing priorities and working to whittle away tasks.
Question #4 about a time had to work with a person who was verbally abusive. Candidate says he had a lot of this during time at UM Hospital Patient Coordinator during Covid. Had to handle family that wanted to visit loved ones. Used lots of empathy and understanding.
Question #5, candidate talking about role working with police dispatching in Saline. Had to manage expectations of public, city managers, different police departments. Important to not show favorability but juggle resources to meet expectations.
Question #6, best practices with civilian oversight. Candidate says would address backlog of complaints, prying into outdated technology to streamline process of resolving complaints.
Questions from commissioners: Why are you interested in this position? A: Have followed DPD and am disturbed by how people treated by police. Care about social justice. Can help BOPC with improving efficiency, efficacy.
Have attended a meeting of BOPC? (yes) Have read city charter? (yes, and recited role of BOPC)
What does police oversight mean to you? Answer: It provides hope and is an independent agency which looks out for the citizens. It protects their rights.
Candidate asking questions. He wants to know when the hiring will take place. John Tipton explaining that when the board reaches a decision, he will reach out to the candidate to discuss a salary and a start date, and few HR things which need to be done for onboarding.
Apology on behalf of board for the interview being rescheduled. outliermedia.org/detroit-police…
outliermedia.org/detroit-police…
Board now taking a 5 minute recess and then moving into closed session.
Exiting the closed session at 5:00. Calling roll again. All present except for Bell, Carter, and Burton.
Pressley is thankful to Hernandez and the committee that we may finally have a board secretary in the pipeline.
First speaker about Lt. Coleman situation. Was told that internal affairs would contact him and they have not. Also, recently saw a sad video of police pulling over man with 13 year old nephew in the car, driver told that he had to put arms out the window or he would be shot.
Very concerned with 7th Precinct escalating situations, lieutenants observing and not intervening. Also, he has the right to record a situation with the police, and they have stopped him from doing so.
Second commenter talking about crime that she heard about during her family reunion in Memphis. Disgusting. But then returns to Detroit and also hears the same thing happening here. (overviewed crime events, and also shared about her family reunion)
Next speaker talking about her neighbor. She's being harassed by her neighbor because she's not talking with him. He's a Detroit police officer. He enters her home w/o permission. He knows when she comes & goes. Her house alarm doesn't detect him, he has run cables in her home.
Commissioner encourages her to speak with Deputy Chief. BOPC will get her information. Commissioner Smith asks about how he has run cables through her ceiling. She answers, and the commenters continue.
Next commenter receives 'move your vehicle or it will be towed' notices. He wonders why he has received these. Parked on pavement, not grass. What if he goes on vacation and returns and his car is gone? Not seen similar stickers in suburbs. But sees them in Detroit junkyards.
Commissioner Smith speaking. Asked last time he came whether he has temporary plates. These are just for 2 weeks. But he has a 30 day or 60 day plates that he keeps renewing. She encourages him to park in driveway or get a permanent plate.
A commissioner cautions the BOPC against offering legal advice. Lt. Stewart speaking, says that DPD does place stickers on cars determined to be abandoned. Gives advice. Commenter asks to speak afterward, and Stewart says they can talk.
Next commenter asks for moment of silence for Algiers Motel Massacre. At least 3 innocent black men were murdered. Thankful for a memorial on Woodward. Thanks to Comm Moore for bringing up the Metro Times article detailing injustice of faulty sentencing.
Commenter talking about Marqueise Coleman's death. wpde.com/news/local/rob…
wpde.com/news/local/rob…
Next commenter had several distinct asks. They were informed requests for information. I didn't catch them because they were moving fast.
Caller requesting Agnes Hitchcock's tickets be dismissed for parking in a construction zone. Why can contractors park wherever they want without consideration of residents? Also, need stronger penalties against officers filing false reports. These officers should be terminated.
This causes people to be falsely imprisoned and costs the city money in lawsuits.
Pressley offers clarification of issue of charges dropped against legal observers. Charges against one has been dropped, and the others will be dropped. (Last two commenters asked about this.)
The policy regarding legal observers will be revisited and updated in a way which strongly supports the 1st Amendment.
Commissioners asked about Agnes Hitchcock. Stewart is not aware of the case but will look into it and get back to the BOPC.
Commissioners state that letter from the DOJ is on the BOPC website under news tab. (A commenter had asked about this.)
Finished with public comments. Moving on to human resources report from DPD. There are 2% vacancies for officers. Going through stats for different categories. For sworn officers, 500-some are Detroit residents and 1988 are non-residents.
Hernandez has a question for leaves of absence. One officer is on military leave. Wants to know what kinds of supports there are for officers and families while officers are deployed.
Moore asks about an academy student who died active during June 2024. Stewart confirms that there was a student police officer who was killed in an off-duty accident.
Bernard asking the racial composition of the department. Response: July 26th stats: male 74%, female 26%-- and went through Black, white, Hispanic, other, but I didn't catch them.
Bernard comments that it is almost 4-to-1 officers who live outside the city versus in the city. Are there initiatives that other cities have which work in recruiting or retaining officers to live in the city? Because we are recruiting actively but it doesn't seem to be working.
Moving to fiscal report. Reading letter from the board packet. Reading compensation adjustments for the BOPC staff so that they will be equitable with one another. Also providing back pay for investigators and secretaries who worked at lower pay for a season.
Commissioner Moore asking about the educational requirements for the positions. Drew Fries, fiscal manager, said he is not able to speak on this because he is just speaking from a fiscal perspective.
Hernandez recommending to move this to budget committee because it deals with people's salaries and compensation. Need to look at tenure, education, training.
Hernandez motioned, Moore seconded to move this to the budget committee with a two-week deadline (because it deals wioth people's salaries, so it's important). Bernard also mentioned that evaluations need to be considered. Motion carried.
Bernard offered reports from the policy committee. She reminded citizens that the very first thing an officer must do when pulling over a driver is to inform them the reason they are being pulled over. The driver also has the right to ensure that body camera is on.
Bernard also said that the gray lettering on police cars will be updated to yellow to enhance visibility. The gray-lettered cars will be off the road until the yellow lettering is added. (Did I hear this correctly?)
Motions coming out of policy committee: Board approve policy regarding specifications for the (???) van. There was no discussion. The policy was adopted with one objection. I didn't hear who.
Motion to approve the policy committee's patrol policy. One question from a commissioner to Dep Chief Stewart about the advantage of having a semi-marked scout car (with gray lettering).
Bernard clarifies that someone from DPD volunteered that they were going to voluntarily repaint the cars because they are distressing to the community. Policy passed with one objection.
Commissioner (I can't tell who because the camera is showing from the side, name plate not visible) wants to be clear that, if there is division between elected vs. appointed commissioners on the board, he is not part of it.
Hernandez says that he will stand by any comments he has made about elected vs. appointed commissioners. But this is a waste of the BOPC's time to have this conversation.
Bernard says that there is indeed a difference between elected officials and appointed officials. Pressley says that new business should be actionable items and not conversations of this sort. Hernandez says that his point was that all commissioners have the same duties.
Pressley read a declaration on the death of Sonya Massey. The declaration also underscored BOPC's support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. . congress.gov/bill/116th-con…
congress.gov/bill/116th-con…
Resolution also calls for DOJ to prosecute death of Sonya Massey as a hate crime based on the racial slur uttered by the officer as he shot her.
Attachments
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Agency Information
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
The Board of Police Commissioners has supervisory control and oversight of the Police Department, including plenary authority over citizen complaints and the power to appoint fact finders, subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and require the production of evidence. The Board also appoints a civilian as Director of Police Personnel and approves all promotions made by the Chief. The 11 member board is comprised of 7 elected members from each city council district and 4 members appointed by the Mayor. https://detroitmi.gov/government/boards/board-police-commissioners
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