Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Detroit Police Freed from Federal Oversight

A federal judge found Detroit police operations changed during the past 11 years and ended oversight of an independent monitor who was put in place after police were accused of excessive use of force, illegal detentions and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

By Elisha Anderson and Robert Allen

A federal judge found Detroit police operations changed during the past 11 years and ended oversight of an independent monitor who was put in place after police were accused of excessive use of force, illegal detentions and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn granted a request today that had been filed jointly by the city and the U.S. Justice Department to enter into an 18-month transition agreement.

During that time, the Department of Justice maintains watch over ongoing reform efforts in the department without oversight by the monitor.

"This is not a perfect police department, but it is -- in every respect--a constitutional police department," Detroit corporation counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell said at a news conference held after the decision that ended a consent judgment.

But Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality said police are "just playing with the numbers" when they talk about crime. There are still problems with police using force against citizens, such as the arrest of an 11-year-old boy earlier this year, he said.

The city entered into consent judgments with the Justice Department in 2003 after constitutional violations were found.

The consent decrees came after a Free Press investigation that uncovered excessive use of deadly force and questionable investigations into fatal shootings of civilians by officers.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Detroit NAACP President Rev. Wendell Anthony and Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr also participated in the news conference and talked about today's decision.

"It will give us a chance to focus on some qualitative aspects like community trust, which is perhaps the most important aspect to effective policing," McQuade said.

She said the unconstitutional practices largely fell into three categories: use of excessive force, unlawful detention of witnesses who hadn't committed crimes and deplorable conditions of confinement. All have been resolved.

"While much work has been done, much work remains," McQuade said, noting that some citizens continue to talk about incidents of excessive force and concerns about police treating them with disrespect.

Moving forward, the Justice Department will work on areas that remain out of compliance, including getting cameras in more police vehicles and another area related to post-incident documentation, she said.

"Although the law, of course, can only require a constitutional police department, not a perfect police department, we want to make sure that this is the best department that it can be," McQuade said. "Because as we've seen recently in Ferguson, Mo., police encounters with citizens can quickly turn tragic."

Craig, who was appointed police chief in July 2013, called it a "great day" for the department, said he applauds the work of police and will continue making improvements.

Among the numbers cited by the city: the department had 18 fatal shootings from 2009 to 2014 compared with 47 from 1995 to 2000, and deaths in holding cells dropped from 19 during the years 1994 to 2000 down to one from 2008 to 2014.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was out of town today and not at the news conference but said he thinks the city made "enormous progress" in the last decade.

"I think what Judge Cohn did was the right thing," he said.

Not everybody agreed.

Scott said Cohn should have opened the floor to objectors. He also said large-scale police raids in recent months are "militaristic," raising concerns for citizens' rights.

Craig told the Free Press the nine raids he's overseen were welcomed by the community, and they resulted in no complaints and no excessive force.

"What that shows is we are indeed a constitutional police agency," he said.

Hollowell said that among the improvements at the department, all officers are required to participate in 40 hours of in-service training, and no sergeant or police officer can oversee more than 10 officers.

He said the city substantially improved accountability, with an "early warning system" that flags an officer who's involved in a police chase or has a complaint filed, among other criteria.

It cost taxpayers about a $1 million a year to pay the monitor, and 12 police officers could be put back on the street as a result of the monitor being dismissed, Hollowell said.

"The major issue regarding the consent decree is not money, but the significance of whether or not there has been a major cultural change in the DPD," Scott said in a letter written to Cohn and shared with the media.

Cohn, in handing down his decision, said the state-appointed emergency manager should return control of the police department to city government. He said city leaders should consider revising the charter to improve its own oversight.

When Orr was asked when the department would be turned backed over, he said the mayor's office has been working closely with Chief Craig.

"My goal is that the transition be in place prior to my departure," Orr said.

Duggan said he expects that to happen by the end of September.




(c)2014 the Detroit Free Press

Special Projects