The Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA) indicted the Detroit Police Department (DPD) for what the coalition  identified as “a pattern of killings and excessive force.” The group of 20 community organizations selected the 97th Birthday of Malcolm X to call upon the federal Department of Justice to investigate the practices of DPD. The decision to ask for a federal investigation came after the Coalition concluded that all the mechanisms established by the city and state to monitor police are ineffective.

The indictment is a careful collection of public reports of the use of excessive force. It documents the disturbing frequency with which that force turns deadly. Since the nation-wide protests over the brutal police killing of George Floyd, complaints by individuals about excessive force by Detroit police officers are up 25%. Incidents include people who reported police had broken their bones and forcibly handcuffed or detained them. People involved in peaceful, public demonstrations report having been met with rubber bullets, pepper spray, clubs and cars. Leaders of the demonstrations have been targeted for retribution and legal defenders and medical personnel were clearly singled out for attack by police.

In addition, since the end of the federal oversight in 2014, the Coalition has identified 25 people killed by Detroit police.  The indictment documents a "continuing pattern and practice of police violence and killing,"  It establishes that "The entire spectrum of police conduct in Detroit ... is a record of oppression meted out daily and as a matter of course." 

The expansiveness of the indictment looks beyond single incidents to establish evidence of “an institutional culture within the department that promotes violence and racial discrimination within the Department and against members of the community. The mission of CPTA is to expose police misconduct in all its forms and thereby demand police transparency and accountability as well as garner community support for this effort.”

At the heart of this indictment is the recognition that the killing of people by police is not an isolated problem. Nor is it the result of a few officers who are ill-trained or ill intended. Rather, the killing of people is the predictable outcome of a police culture steeped in violence and racial repression. Long before people are killed, the culture of policing is one of repression and the creation of fear.

ACLU of Michigan Attorney Mark Fancher  explained, “A culture of policing has insinuated itself into the very fabric of the department, a culture which says that the way to deal with a community that has challenges and problems with crime and violence is to intimidate them, to overwhelm them, to harass them, to bludgeon them and to kill them.” Attorney Nancy Parker of the Detroit Justice Center,  speaking about the need for action, said, "This is not about slogans; this is literally about the freedom and liberty of Black people who are being killed by those who are meant to serve and protect them." 

The Coalition, formed in the wake of the killing of Hakim Littleton, is challenging us to look beyond the most brutal uses of force and to recognize that long before they kill,  police attack our very souls and security. Policing is not intended to keep us safe. It does not stop crime. Real safety will only come as we care more for each other and create lives based on respect and dignity.