Note-taking by
Janelle James
Chief Investigator Jerome Warfield presented police misconduct numbers from Jan-Oct 2024. Out of 767 closed cases, 151 had sustained allegations, representing 19.7% of the total. They were primarily sustained complaints of officer procedure and demeanor.
Live reporting by
Caitlin Santer
Chief Investigator Jerome Warfield presented police misconduct numbers from Jan-Oct 2024. Out of 767 closed cases, 151 had sustained allegations, representing 19.7% of the total. They were primarily sustained complaints of officer procedure and demeanor.
Meeting called to order at 3pm by Chairperson Woods.
Woods: present Smith: present Bernard: present Banks: present Bell: present Moore: present Hernandez: excused Dewaelsche: present Quorum ✅
Community Impact Report (CIP) by Warfield beginning now.
Warfield reminding us of OCI’s reporting process.
Carter and Burton just arrived and have joined meeting.
Warfield explaining that they had 10 investigators in their rotation, but have added 4, and now have a total of 14 investigators in rotation.
Current closed cases from 2021-2024
Backlog means past 90 days.
Notable that all 2021 cases are either closed or in review.
Allegations Jan-Oct and Oct 2024 alone.
Dewaelsche asks how long training is. Answer: 6 months, but some complete training quicker or more slowly than that. Follow up: what are trainees’ caseloads? Answer: they are responsible for same caseload, administrator assigns trainees certain cases.
Bernard has questions abt sustained vs. unsustained complaints. Sustained complaints go to disciplinary department and they handle the case from there. When deciding whether to promote an officer, BOPC receives reports with all complaints against them, not just sustained.
Commissioner Pressley now present.
Smith requests clarity about procedure and demeanor complaints. Procedure is typically related to body cams not being turned on, or being turned off too early. Demeanor means lack of professionalism in interactions with the public.
Bell comments that when it comes to police demeanor, there is a culture of “the f-word” that must be addressed. Woods agrees, but says that the culture is changing.
Woods asked about the 4 or 5 sustained complaints about use of force or harassment. Woods says that the BOPC needs to be notified immediately when those are sustained. Bernard adds that they want to know which ones result in lawsuits and which ones don’t.
Woods asks for timeline of progress on backlog of cases. Warfield says he would rather wait on that update until the new case management system, WingSwept, is up and running next week.
End of CIP, BOPC seems very pleased with the report.
Chief of police report: moving very quickly, but it seems that most incidents are down. Mental health related calls are up slightly (7%).
Significant events: -Nov 2: nonfatal shooting, two 16-year-olds arrested -Nov 3: 7 people shot, 2 people killed, 2 people in critical condition. Warrant submitted for review -(Date?): domestic violence related triple shooting, murder-suicide connected to an affair.
Q: What happens when citizens provide DPD with address in their neighborhood where they expect drug activity is taking place? A: Referred to Major Violators Section who conduct surveillance and may move forward with investigation.
Bernard wants to call two things to public attention: 1. Sign on/training bonuses are much higher for Detroit residents who join DPD than for non-residents. This is to incentivize more Detroiters to join DPD. 2. No-gun status for officers means they cannot have firearm or taser
Bernard emotionally calls for more information about DPD Sargent who was killed while BOPC was in Arizona for training.
Answer: when interim chief starts, they will give BOPC an update on the situation.
Bernard also voiced concern about football player Williams who was stopped for driving with a gun, but let go. Who had the authority and gave permission to let him go? A: Warrant submitted and investigation started into how that case was handled.
Wood emphasizes that Williams is a young Black man who deserves due process. Tension between Woods and Bernard on this. Woods says case is with the prosecutor’s office and wants to end the conversation. Pressley says Bernard has valid concern.
Public comment 🗣️ starting now
Man from Sacred Heart: Under Pressley’s leadership there was no 2023 annual report submitted by BOPC- is this bc of the 50% increase in citizen complaints? Also is using handcuffs without arrest considered misconduct?
Response: just reviewed draft 2023 report and it’s anticipated to go out in print in a week.
🗣️ Woman says that her r*pe case is being covered up. It seems that her complaint is against an officer. She also claims that an officer called her a b*tch. Weird moment where Smith tells commenter to watch her mouth even though she was quoting the officer.
🗣️ Elderly woman concerned about gun violence at parties.
🗣️ Young man says he was pulled over by special operations officer because he doesn’t have insurance. Says this isn’t a reason to pull someone over.
🗣️ Woman praises officers who arrested Stephanie Binder, a white woman who kidnapped four African American children who were on their way to school.
🗣️ This next speaker refers to election issues and seems to call for chairperson to step down, but it’s largely unclear who or what he is referring to.
🗣️Speaker is very difficult to understand. She seems to mention concerns about officers living outside of the city and snow storms.
🗣️ Man says that he was pleased with Election Day in Detroit- lots of people in line at polling locations but there were no major incidents as there have been in the past. He is also pleased with the economic incentives for Detroit residents to join DPD.
Board Secretary report: upcoming meeting dates (see image below)
New business: working on finding “search firm” to help hire new police chief.
Motion to go into closed meeting passed at 4:29 for three minute recess.
Open session began again at 5:05
Motion for board to request legal advice concerning evaluation of employee or member (I didn’t catch which term they used). Motion is adopted but postponed. It will be added to next week’s agenda as new business. Followed by motion to adjourn meeting. Meeting adjourned at 5:08.
This concludes my live coverage of the Board of Police Commissioners meeting. For more information check out: documenters.org
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