Board of Police Commissioners
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Criminal Justice
Due to commissioners being out-of-town at this year’s NACOLE conference, this meeting was moved to Friday.
Join meeting on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81981390642
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Amelia Benavides-Colón
Former UAW President Rory Gamble joins the board; starting salaries for new OCI investigators set at $54,500.
It’s Friday Détroit!! 🏙️ I’m covering this afternoon’s Board of Police Commissioner meeting at 3 p.m. for @DetDocumenters check out our media partners 📰 @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
08:09 AM Nov 17, 2023 CST
We’re all feeling a little bit off this week because BOPC usually meets on Thursdays… but this week was the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement conference- causing the postponement nacole.org/annual_confere…
nacole.org/annual_confere…
BOPC meetings are held in the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters (1301 3rd Ave.) Skylar Room And can be joined via Zoom, phone or streamed on Channel 10 & streaming in the city’s social media. Find the link to join here: detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
You can catch up on last week’s coverage here: https://twitter.com/sister_threads/status/1722735128667927019
So far this month, City Council has approved the appointments of two at-large BOPC commissioners: - Former UAW President Rory Gamble (mayoral appointee, approved at 11/7 Council mtg) - Formerly incarcerated turned activist and minister Darryl Woods Sr. (approved at 11/14 mtg)
I'm hearing some voices come online fixing tech issues before the meeting
There are currently audio issues in person causing a slight delay
🚨 The time is 3:04 p.m. and Chair QuanTez Pressley has called today's meeting to order
We are one commissioner away from a quorum (an exact roll call was not taken) so we are moving ahead to Announcements
Secretary report: - Darryl Woods has been appointed to BOPC by Council - Attorneys advised BOPC it is in violation of the city's email and mobile device policy - BOPC has an updated draft of the 2022 annual report + 2024 BOPC calendar (which comes before approval on Nov. 30)
✨Roll call ☑️Chair QuanTez Pressley ☑️Vice Chair Rev. Jim Holley ✖️Tamara Liberty Smith D- 1 ✖️Linda D. Bernard, Esq. D- 2 ☑️Cedric Banks D- 3 ✖️Willie E. Bell D-4 ☑️Willie E. Burton D-5 ✖️Lisa Carter D-6 ✖️Ricardo Moore D-7 ☑️Jesus Hernandez at-Large ☑️Rory Gamble at-Large
➡️ The Nov. 17 agenda has been approved ➡️ The Nov. 9 meeting minutes are also approved
➡️ BOPC Officer's Report: Starting with a welcome for Gamble
Banks said he wants to thank the Board for sending Commissioners to the NACOLE Conference - he said they learned a lot of vital information. Pressley said this was his first time in attendance & he enjoyed it being hosted in Chicago because there's lot to be learned from them
Secretary Victoria Shah and OCI Chief Investigator Jerome Warfield also attended the conference
Pressley said he got a media request about City Council's decision to approve $30 million for highway camera systems He said this was the first BOPC had ever heard of this new technology
➡️ Community Impact Report - Shah started by thanking everyone for eagerly attending the NACOLE conference - staff will present a summary of key takeaways and initiatives by mid-December
- Warfield said he's had the opportunity to attend NACOLE in the past and said Detroit is one of the founding civilian police oversight institutions
➡️Chief of Police Report - White said Detroit is performing at a high level when it comes to tech & crime investigation
Stats are lower than they've been in 50 yers. Criminal homicides down 15% - 40 less people than last yr Sexual assaults down 8.3% - 50 less people than last yr aggrevatived assaults down 10% burglueries 3% - 277 homes not burglurzied
- non-fatal shootings down 12% - 100 less people shot than last yr - carjacking are down by 35% - 78 less carjacking than last yr
Nov. 11 - fatal shooting Officers arrived on the scene to see a victim shot in the chest in a pool of blood. Medics declared him dead on the scene. The case is open and there are no identified motives
Nov. 12 - two critical stabbings Officers arrived to see a victim treated by a medic where he was listed critical. 1 hour later officers were called to another stabbing, a 60-year-old, stabbed by the same man. He was in a mental health crisis, White said.
White said this man would've continued to hurt more people if not apprehended so quickly clickondetroit.com/news/local/202…
clickondetroit.com/news/local/202…
Nov. 14 - carjacking Officers arrived and the victim said he gave 4 men a ride after being robbed at gunpoint. The men took his vehicle, assaulted him, took his phone and drove away. License plate readers were used to help track them down and make arrests
😊 positive update time: - Police reserve graduate 9 reserves - Turkey giveaway gave out 100 turkeys - 2023 graduation was today, 19 students graduated - Tomorrow is a one-day hiring fair (more than just policing jobs) from 7am-5pm at DPSH
Warfield said he was glad City Council approved the $30M for highway cameras. He said a lot of freeway shootings are road rage incidents because people know it's a police darkspot. They will not be used for traffic enforcement or speeding, it is strictly for safety.
Yesterday, Warren police had an officer-involved shooting in Detroit. White said the investigation is being handled by state police. A victim was in a stolen car, was being engaged, and was shot one time by the officer. freep.com/story/news/loc…
freep.com/story/news/loc…
Banks is asking for a "run-down" on the mental health unit
White's audio cut out but here's some background on the unit: bridgedetroit.com/detroit-adds-m…
bridgedetroit.com/detroit-adds-m…
White's presence is being requested at the upcoming citizen's complaint committee meeting next Wed. at 9am. Banks also asked for an NPO be there. Pressley asked Banks to please go through Shah to schedule this.
White said the 12-point plan is to credit for the low crime stats this year freep.com/story/news/loc…
freep.com/story/news/loc…
Banks is asking for clarification on Green Light's role in apprehending a suspect in the earlier case of the man on a stabbing rampage White said they knew the area he was in and was able to check into the Green Light cameras in the area to finally track him down
Holley is asking for an update on the Devon Hoover (doctor killed in Boston Edison) and Samatha Woll (the synagogue leader who was killed about a month ago) cases White said there have been 286 homicides in the city, all of which are being investigated. He said there have 1/2
been no updates on either of these. "We will go where the investigation takes us... and that's all I can say," White said about Woll's case. In the case of Dr. Hoover, White said the case is open but no where near close to being closed
Holley said he just returned from Dubai where 10M people, 10% of whom are non-citizens and they have zero crime. He said the police don't have guns and there are fair consequences for crime. "I was taken aback by that," he said.
Gamble is asking about the 'guns recovered, not available' section of ShotSpotter White said that is tracked and he will see why it's not in the report. He said he's not sure why this data is missing and he will look into it - because guns are apprehended in most cases
Shah said that's been showing Not Available since the spring. She asked the board be given the back information to keep up. White is asking if this was brought up. Shah said it was. White insisted he will look into it & figure out what happened, he asked for 2 weeks to respond
🚨Public comment time: *there are 6 people present to speak 1: wants Gamble to know how corrupt BOPC is - and wants him to be the one who can speak up for the people. He said we need a focused look at officer misconduct instead of so much talk about crime. *allotted 4 mins
2: accusing the BOPC of promoting corrupt DPD members that have ruined her life over the last three years. She said she's being followed by cops in civilian cars, stalked on social media & belives she's being targeted for her mental illness
3: said Detroit needs a red light law to protect pedestrians from speeding cars. Said he's taking 100 people and letters to Lansing to demand a red light law. *the last two commenters were only given 2 minutes
4: asked for officers to use better discretion during traffic stops 5: *not present 6: said BOPC should expect an email in their inbox soon connecting former OCI Director and some BOPC members with corruption ties
7: Is BOPC going to talk about the latest Office of the Investigator General - which claims BOPC has been in violation of several laws. And wants Gamble to know he's joining a corrupt organization
8: said he's worried there won't be enough safeguards put in place for the new highway cameras and license plater readers
➡️ Presentation to the board: HR Report by Katrina Patilo
Oct stats: 92% staffing - 95% sworn members 138 vacancies, 5% vacancy rate 85% civilian staff 120 vacancies, 15 vacancy rate
Patilo is reading off a presentation not provided to the public and not being shared on the screen
35 sworn-in new hires 31 civilians The academy class graduated 28, and DPD graduated 19
DPD had a net gain of 166 officers Hired 222 since Jan. 1 and separated 126.
3 academy classes in session with 134 students, expected to hire 40 - and 24 already hired 16 officers were reinstated
I was randomly kicked out of the Zoom! loading back in now!
Patilo is still giving her presentation - I'm not exactly sure where we're at just yet
the personnel committee is asking Patilo to come to its next meeting to talk about exit interviews
➡️ New Business - Issuing an updated resolution to Ms. Stanley, after several errors were found in the last copy
- There's a motion to set a new budget for 'new' investigators at $54,500 Burton is asking for the current hiring rate for the last few cohorts of investigators. He said he feels like there should be a range or something to allow for negotiation
Hernandez said these are subsequent actions alredy approved by the Board. The only nuance is that a job analysis was done and it was found that an increase should be added to the starting rate for investigators. He said once they vote on this they can vote on following motions
Shah said the last group brought on in May started at $54,000 - and the most recent 5 were hired at $52,500 in an effort to make room for budget initiatives. Turns out that isn't necessary, so the reccommendation is to bring in 'new' investigators at $54,500
Shah said the range is $40,344 to $60,306 (and is set by City Council) So the recommendation is for the starting rate to be $54,500.
Burton said why not just vote for the range instead of one hard number? That way negations can be made based on each person - he said $54K might now be sustainable for an investigator. And he's asking if this is a union position? How do they feel?
Holley said his committee did 20 hours of work on this and the board is asking like it was arbitrarily put together. He said he put a lot of work into this motion.
Moving into changing the offer salary for 3-4 different investigators (I wish I had the agenda they are looking at)
One of the candidates, Angela Brown said she sent in a counter-offer but hasn't received a response. She said she is a 20-year veteran of DPD with experience and her salary range is the max of this position - so she is looking into further consideration be taken
She said she would be taking a pay cut as it stands - but she really wants this position. Pressley said the $54,500 is the final offer and she is welcome to decline if that doesn't work for her.
Burton said he doesn't understand why exceptions can't be made for people with exemplary backgrounds - especially considering the help OCI needs
Burton said in the past this was negotiable. Pressley repeated that the appointment offer is a hard $54,500 and the motion passed with no objections
Now onto a recommendation for 3 investigators at the final offer salary of $54,500. Motion approved with no opposition
Banks wants an update on OCI's backlog. Warfield said backlog cases are 837. bridgedetroit.com/dpd-complaint-…
bridgedetroit.com/dpd-complaint-…
Banks was in the middle of speaking when someone got up and left, and the Parliamentarian said there was no quorum. Pressley quickly made a motion to adjourn and the meeting ended at 4:54 pm
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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