Board of Police Commissioners - Evening Community Meeting
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Criminal Justice
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022
6:30 p.m. — 9:30 p.m. EST
Remote
Join meeting on Zoom: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/397380647?pwd=S1kzVzU4RURFb2NBRGJIb1kwWVNjdz09
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Note-taking by
Colleen Cirocco
Commissioners applaud new competitive wages for police; public tired of red light runners and dangerous driving.
Live reporting by
Alex Klaus
Commissioners applaud new competitive wages for police; public tired of red light runners and dangerous driving.
Alex
@mostlikelyalex
Good evening! Today at 6:30pm, I’ll be live-tweeting the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting for #DETdocumenters @media_outlier @Detour_Detroit @PlanetDetroit @Freep @Wdet @BridgeDet313 @metrotimes @chalkbeatDET @DetDocumenters
04:57 PM Nov 10, 2022 CST
BOPC holds weekly meetings on Thursdays at 3 except for the second Thursday of each month where they hold a 6:30pm community meeting. Today’s. Meeting is held at Citadel of Praise (20280 Lyndon St, Detroit, MI 48223).
Find the link to follow along here: detroit.documenters.org/assignments/bo…
Find links to all of today’s documents here: detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
Find links to all of today’s documents here: detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
Last time I documented an evening meeting, they had conflicting precincts on the website vs agenda. For this meeting, both say they’re addressing Sixth precinct. twitter.com/mostlikelyalex…
Sixth precinct location from the “Community Safety Strategy” detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm… https://t.co/R1WC6Ltiyk
The strategy claims they’ll present a few things at their community meetings like citizens complaints and answering community questions. Lets see if they do that today… https://t.co/c0wUjCzAQs
One more thing—recent mental health service call records indicate that the DPD is experiencing consistently higher mental health calls. twitter.com/mostlikelyalex…
Police Chief James White: “This isn’t something that we should have to take on … but it’s landing smack dab in our laps and we have to be in a position where we provide these services.” https://t.co/W2t5C69THR
Councilmember Santiago-Romero during yesterday’s City Council meeting: “I don’t believe our police need to spend their time or resources responding to calls that a peer support specialist, social worker or mental health care provider should be responding to.” twitter.com/kayleighrenel/…
Also City Council approved a labor agreement between the Detroit Police Officers Association and the Detroit Police Lieutenants Sergeants Association yesterday. (4 of 6) twitter.com/kayleighrenel/… https://t.co/OL7hsnI0YP
We do not have a quorum because there are only 5 commissioners present. After typing this, commissioner QuanTez Pressley arrived.
Commissioner Ricardo Moore, who represents precinct 6, praises leadership skills in the precinct.
Chair Ferguson is mentioning the approval of the Detroit Police Union contracts, which he says adds raises and other modifications regarding conditions and other “key changes” like pay adjustments made to the contract.
Ferguson is mentioning the murder of Porter Burks, and says they are waiting in a “full investigation alongside the Michigan State Police.”
Commissioner Hernandez is reading a resolution honoring Officer Clive G Stewart.
Deputy Chief DeShaune Sims is reading the information usually presented by Chief White. She says 34 officers in quarantine or isolation and 30 members have tested positive for COVID.
She says for their drag racing detail, they’ve made 604 citations, impounded 374 vehicles, 58 felony arrests, and 11 misdemeanors
Information about Porter Burks was turned over to the board, according to Sims. To my knowledge, this is not available to the public.
Commissioner Moore says a request was put forward to the departmennt regarding the “squatter eviction issue” which I’m assuming refers to the “Squatters Action Team” exposed by @AaronMondry from @media_outlier outliermedia.org/detroit-police…
Commissioner Holley says he feels like they’ve seen a lot of violence between family members and would like to discuss this at some point in the future.
1. Talking about statements made by “a specific commissioner” in previous meetings On July 14th to response to public comments, saying they are the only board that people want to oversight. On October 27th in response to a commissioner recommending the board take action +
2. Says the police need to do something about all the drivers running red lights in the city. Thinks cameras should be placed to take citations for people running lights.
3. 48205 resident mentions the same issues about running red lights. Thinks some kind of deterrent would “transform itself in other areas.”
4. Former Commissioner Davis (I think?) says the board “is and continues to be an embarrassment.”
“Y’all need to do your job.” He says Coleman Young would be embarrassed by the board.
“Y’all need to do your job.” He says Coleman Young would be embarrassed by the board.
5. Chair Ferguson says he wants traffic cameras. He’s telling a story about when he ran a red light in 1980 in Germany. He says they can’t put them up due to state law.
More people separated to Livonia Police Department than any of the other agencies listed. https://t.co/miBF1gW1QY
She points out increased pay and annual pay increases. https://t.co/zheQEvekY8
Chair Ferguson is asking about the temporary disqualifications. He asks if any of the 424 people temporarily disqualified have asked for a hearing. She says they would need to go back and research.
Commissioner Banks is asking how the benefits packages compare to Warren, Eastpointe, and Grosse Pointe for retention purposes. He says they often lose officers after going through the department’s training program. Warren is one of the highest paying agency in the area.
Commissioner Holley is asking if Warren has a residency requirement. He also asks if DPD is the only department in the area with a residency requirement.
Next to the precinct 6 report. I heard “Amanda Williams” but a man is speaking.
He says there’s an increase in sexual assaults in the area since last year. He says there’s a “huge decrease” in aggravated assaults compared to last year (360 less) They’re seeing a decrease in nonfatal shootings, but a slight increase in carjackings.
He says they’re going to try a different strategy for policing property crime. He says every week, they look at 2 weeks of data to see where crimes are taking place. He says they direct their patrol in these areas.
He advises people to not heat their car up. He is giving advice to make it harder for people to become a target.
Captain Decio (spelling?) is answering questions. Chair Ferguson asks if they have changed strategy since the release of the Community Safety Strategy (released in March 2022). Decio said plans are fluid and changing when they think they notice patterns. detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm… https://t.co/xX5UjoRVpg
Decio says they send out plainclothes police officers in unmarked cars to see if they can “observe something in progress,” he says this is to look out for property crime but also says they’ll find “any other kind of crimes [they] may come across.”
Decio says drones, robots, “and all kinds of different items” would help them and says they’d appreciate more of these “resources.”
Williams is saying “if the community is not involved, we’re missing about 75% of the gangs” they could possibly have. He says people can come in and talk to him personally if he isn’t in a meeting.
Vice Chair Annie Holt is asking about the uptick in sexual violence. She asks how the community closet is doing. Williams says it’s going well and they’re still getting donations. I never knew they had a community closet and I’m wondering why the dept. is tasked with doing this.
Chair Ferguson says he wants to see more drones and likes the suggestion.
Commissioner Banks is asking what impact the community had made in the area for solving cases. Deputy Williams says he needs to get back to him on that because they need more specific examples.
Williams says he wants to let everyone know the police is not just here to “catch the bad guys” but to “make sure we’re all stopping the bad guys.”
Captain Verna (spelling) has been appointed to Commander. I did not catch the name of the second promoted officer. It looked like they had the names on their agenda but it isn’t on the public agenda.
Commissioner Banks is bringing up that the Office of the Chief Investigator said in August they’d have the backlog of citizens complaints finished by December.
Commissioner Banks is frustrated because he was interrupted. Chair Ferguson says today’s packet talked about it. Secretary Melanie White says they are at 508 total backlog cases. She reiterates the deadline is December 31st.
Chair Ferguson says investigators are getting 30 extra cases. Melanie White corrected him, saying 37% (I’m kind of confused about this). Investigators are not getting 30 extra cases.
Please email documenters@outliermedia.org with the subject “Correction Request” if you find anything inaccurate.
Attachments
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
Documents
No documents available
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