Live reporting by
Alex Klaus
The Detroit Police Department placed 30 officers on administrative duty after discovering they had inactive, lapsed law enforcement licenses. The licenses are issued by MCOLES, the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.
Alex Klaus 🌈⭐️
@mostlikelyalex
Good afternoon! Today at 3:00 pm I will live-tweet the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting for #DETdocumenters. @DetDocumenters @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @Michigan_public @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
01:43 PM Nov 21, 2024 CST
Documenters reporting: detroit.documenters.org/assignments/bo… City website: detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
detroit.documenters.org/assignments/bo…
detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
Couple things on the agenda today: - Presenting the DPD’s October HR report - Closed session to consider a department investigator’s “evaluation appeal” - Closed session to consider administrative leave without pay but with benefits for Officer Mory Sangare
Find last week’s reporting here: https://twitter.com/mostlikelyalex/status/1857202915930235359
Last week, the BOPC welcomed interim chief of police Todd Bettison who is replacing chief James White. https://twitter.com/mostlikelyalex/status/1857210728521834826
At 3:02 the board has not called the meeting to order yet, and their screen isn’t showing anything.
Meeting called to order at 3:03. Chair Darryl Woods said the delay was because of technical difficulties.
Deputy Chief Carrie Sloan is giving the crime report, sitting in for interim chief Bettison. She reports the department has responded to 15,800 calls for mental health issues. Commissioner Willie Burton arrived at 3:09
Sloan mentions licensure issues with about 30 officers, but I’m unsure what she’s referring to. She said the matter is “under investigation” and said the issue is likely because of a failure to submit required paperwork. She said all officers have undergone appropriate training.
Commissioner Ricardo Moore thanked deputy chief Sloan for being transparent about the 30 officers. She said the department learned about this yesterday through communication with MCOLES michigan.gov/mcoles
michigan.gov/mcoles
Several commissioners are asking about the DPD’s investigation into a traffic stop involving Jameson Williams of the Detroit Lions. cbsnews.com/amp/detroit/ne…
cbsnews.com/amp/detroit/ne…
Deputy chief Sloan said she isn’t at liberty to comment because the investigation is ongoing. Commissioner Burton said he asked for body camera footage of the traffic stop 21 days ago.
Burton is asking when he’ll access the camera footage. Sloan said she doesn’t know when the investigation will finish.
1. Minister Eric Blount of Sacred Heart Church said the BOPC dashboard is weak and only regurgitates information about complaints. outliermedia.org/detroit-police…
outliermedia.org/detroit-police…
2. Frequent commenter mentions Kaniesha Coleman’s death, I think he said “joker” and chair Woods stopped him and said he cant use name calling. The commenter, Woods, Burton argued about whether the board can give his time back since Woods interrupted him. He said no.
3. I missed most of her comment trying to write the last tweet but she wrapped up her comment saying chief Bettison will work on behalf of “all of us”
4. Resident said an officer working in a facility (possibly her apartment building?) threatened her, saying he will tie her up and put her in the trunk.
5. References the comment below, disappointed with chair Woods for using decorum as an argument for squelching criticism. Also concerned with how long it’s taken Burton to get body camera footage. https://twitter.com/mostlikelyalex/status/1859695226081902786
6. Agrees with the commenter below, that chief Bettison was a good choice. She also asked why the second precinct commander has changed so many times in one year. Sloan said sometimes commanders need to be placed in other areas based on need. https://twitter.com/mostlikelyalex/status/1859695432768815576
Commissioner Ricardo Moore said second precinct residents want stability.
7. William Davis, former commissioner said the dashboard has potential. Also agrees that the second precinct needs stability with their commander.
8. A victim service advocate/resident said chief Bettison was a good choice. He wants to get involved with ways to help crime victims
Department was staffed at 96% in October 63 officer vacancies 89 applicants were permanently disqualified, 7 temporarily disqualified 10 Detroit residents were new hires, 13 residents sworn. She’s going really fast and it’s hard to catch all the statistics.
The discussion about MCOLES has been raised again, but I’m still a little confused what the problem is. Commissioner Woods said something needs to be strengthened in their system.
Commissioner Cedrick Banks asked about the multiple choice written test, and wonders what questions the test had about resolving conflict. The presenter said she needs to get back to him because she hasn’t taken the test herself.
Chair Woods is motioning to postpone the highlighted agenda item because there was no legal advice at this time.
Commissioner Dewaelsche is presenting a memorandum for the budget committee. She moves adopting the committee’s recommendation to adjust the BOPC budget draft timeline to submit it.
She’s also moving to adopt the committee’s recommendation to increase OCI senior investigators and supervising investigators salary to be aligned with market standards-$92k to $107k
Motions were carried. Going into the first closed session now. I will return when they are back from closed session.
Returning from closed session at 5:01. Commissioner Darryl Woods made a motion to consider the evaluation appeal, there was no second. He went into motioning to go into the second closed session.
Somebody stopped him and said the board has to motion to overturn the evaluation, per the Open Meetings Act. The board voted to close the session, so I don’t think they approved to consider the evaluation appeal.
The ASL interpreter is still signing, and it looks like they’re having a discussion. Right now, the camera is zoomed into Commissioner Ricardo Moore
Back to commissioner Moore. Commissioner Willie Burton is speaking now.
Commissioner Dewaelsche is talking about substance use disorder, and how they need to speak with Chief Bettison about working more closely with the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN), where former chief White serves as new CEO.
Commissioner Burton is suggesting the board postpones this until next week. There was no second to the motion. Commissioner Moore said body-worn cameras were discussed in the closed session.
Moore said theres a culture in the department that leads to stereotyping but I can’t quite figure out what he’s specifically referring to. The board voted and it didn’t pass.
Burton abstained, because he wanted to postpone, he hopes that the new chief will address a problematic culture in the department.
Commissioner Banks mentioned a motion from a few months ago about an “unredacted report” relating to the death of Kaniesha Coleman. Commissioner Tamara Smith said the board will be notified when they “hear back” (not sure who from).
Burton tried to motion to “overturn the evaluation of the investigator” from the first closed session.
Parliamentarian said they would need to motion to reconsider. Shortly before this conversation, chair Woods left the meeting. With Woods gone, there was no longer a quorum, so Tamara Smith adjourned the meeting at 6:09
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