Live reporting by
Nathaniel Eichenhorn
The board asked Chief James White about suburban police departments — particularly Warren PD — chasing suspects into Detroit, often resulting in vehicle crashes and endangering residents. White acknowledged the issue, and Bernard suggested addressing it at the state legislature.
Nachum Eichenhorn
@NachumDetroit
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12:57 PM Oct 3, 2024 CDT
We're three minutes out and attendance is looking LIGHT at the moment. They couldn't get a quorum last week, so let's see how it goes.
They're getting started with the invocation. The agenda (such as it is) can be found here. detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm…
detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm…
They have a quorum! Those counted present: Woods Smith Banks Bell Hernandez Pressley Dewaelsche
Minutes and agenda from the last meeting were approved unanimously
Moving on to the Chief of Police report, chief White gave an update on an investigation into a child predator who has been apprehended
He further reports that crime numbers have, in general, recovered to pre-Covid levels. Chief White reports that violent crime rates have "blown past" (downwards) pre-Covid numbers, reflecting a significant drop.
Chief White further reports a double non-fatal shooting which included a child as a victim.
Chief White reports several police deaths, including one who was shot while without a partner, something that is not uncommon in the DPD
A body was found in the driver's seat of a stolen UHaul. They got the other guy who was in the UHaul, but don't have sufficient evidence to keep him.
The board brought up the problem of suburban police departments chasing suspects into Detroit. It seems Warren PD likes to do this a lot. Chief White says there's protocols and those cops should be informed DPD when that happens.
They tend not to do that, unfortunately, and the board asked bout how to hold them accountable
Chief White says DPD doesn't chase suspects unless they think the suspect will imminently cause harm to someone. Other departments are not so strict in their policies.
Warren PD has a habit of this, according to Comm'r Woods, and have caused several dangerous crashes.
Comm'r Bernard suggested this matter be taken to the state legislature if headway cannot be made department-to-department and Chief White indicated his support for that idea.
Comm'r Burton has some citizen complaints about blight tickets. Chief White says if tickets were issued erroneously, there should be a remedy. However, he says "just because you're impoverished, doesn't mean you can live in filth"
Burton and White are getting into it now. Woods is calling Burton out of order.
Chief White said if Burton gives him the information on the tickets and he can look into it. Burton wants to know how the decision to ticket is made. They were basically talking past each other until the chair stepped in.
Comm'r Pressley has a question about the continuing problem of officers not getting back to family members, particularly family members affected by homicide
Chief White says he is implementing a new group within the department whose job it is to keep up with victims and their families.
Since the launch of this group, people have come out of the woodwork to to describe their sometimes decade-old cold cases for which they cannot get updates.
That is to say, the group was originally founded to keep up with victims of current cases, however, Chief White says it has transformed into a much more comprehensive group, and may need expanding
Take away for me: this is an OLD problem that is apparently so bad and intractable that people have since GIVEN UP in droves, and are trying again because they heard something might be being done about it.
Woods asked about the continuing issue of body cam footage not being released. Chief White basically said he releases videos after a 45 day maximum and that those who want a shorter maximum don't understand the complexities involved.
Bernard says she notices when a body cam video exculpates the department it is released at once, but if a video may incriminate an officer of the department, there is a delay. Chief White says he is committed to releasing all videos.
Woods notes for the record that Bernard and Smith have arrived and are there.
First up is Minister Eric Blount, who described several cases of alleged misconduct and identified Chief White with former chief Craig, and said they are not so different.
The next commenter was concerned about inconsistent police response to a threat on the commenter. She said she feels unsafe and the board referred her to the deputy chiefs for follow up.
The next commenter said that the department should improve the procedures for investigating abuse within families.
Zoom caller says it's been over 80 days since the death of Sherman Butler and unedited body cam footage is still unreleased. The caller says she has doubts whether the investigation is ongoing or if there will ever be a trial.
The next caller strongly urges the police department to be more strict about the ordinance regarding idling trucks and air pollution.
DPD rep says the Sherman Butler case doesn't need to be released in the 45 day window because it technically isn't an officer involved shooting (the actual shooting was done by a bailiff, but there were several cops there, and those officers body cams remain unreleased.
Former commissioner William Davis is called in to urge the board and the department to make sure that people are being adequately protected at the polls during the upcoming election. He alluded to voter intimidation by Trump supporters
Davis also says that other municipalities managed to enforce their air pollution regulations regarding idling trucks and wondered aloud why Detroit is lagging so far behind in this
The board is now moving on to the board secretary report. The board secretary referred them to *drumroll* "the packet you have before you"
The city is setting up cameras in places where there is routine illegal dumping. Some of those cameras are fake, but some are real.
Bernard made a motion on behalf of her the policy committee to approve $80,000 to buy the aforementioned dumping cameras
A motion to go into closed session for an employee evaluation.
They're going into closed session, I'll let you know when they get back.
They're back in open session. The roll was called and those present were: Woods Smith Bernard Banks Burton Hernandez Pressley Dewaelsche
The employee evaluation created in the closed session was approved and submitted unanimously.
Well folks, this closes my coverage of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting for October 3. Learn more about our coverage of local meetings at documenters.org
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