Persistent patterns
This week the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA) brought together people who had been experiencing police violence to tell their stories. When these stories are woven together a clear pattern of police aggression emerges. Police, under the direction of the Mayor and the Chief of Police are routinely violating individual rights and threatening the fabric of democratic discussion.
Yvonne Jones of CPTA began the conference noting that elected officials “have given police unlimited authority” under the guise of public safety. Citizens experience excessive force on a regular basis, knowing that often police called for help make situations worse.
Ms. Jones pointed out the glaring disparities in police behavior as they protect the business interests and major public events “in the most peaceful ways possible” yet use force in breaking up community events and public demonstrations.
Victoria Camille of CPTA explained that police violence is not a new problem. In 2022 the Coalition sent a 17 page letter to the Department of Justice asking for intervention in the use of force, documenting 25 killings since the removal of federal oversight from the Department. In 2024 the CPTA submitted a second letter, again documenting 17 separate instances of the use of force and discrimination within and without the DPD. In the last two years, citizen complaints against police officers have skyrocketed. The Board of Police Commissioners received 1,742 complaints last year, up by 500.
Ms. Camille also talked about the lack of transparency by the DPD, the Mayor and the Law Department. Routine requests for basic information have been denied, decisions by the BOPC and the City Council, ordering information be provided to community groups without charge have been ignored, and information on police officers who have engaged in misconduct has been withheld.
CPTA is currently advocating two policy changes: a strong policy defending the first amendment rights of people and a clear video release policy so citizens can judge for themselves the conduct of police officers. Ms. Camille called upon people to use our power to demand transparency and demand that the city adopt these policies.
Nakia Wallace of Detroit Will Breathe and Emma Howland Bolton of the National Lawyers Guild offered a number of examples of police use of force against demonstrators. They especially noted that police are singling out individuals and approaching them after demonstrations, not only arresting them, but often doing so with violence.
Among the most open-hearted presentations were residents of Southwest Detroit who talked about becoming afraid to “walk down the streets of my own community” because of the trauma created by attacks on traditional cultural gatherings.
Members of Southwest Detroit also talked about the compounding trauma when members of our families are also members of the police department. The pain of seeing those who have cared for us turn against their own communities and families haunts us.
The conference concluded with Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellerman reading from a letter written to Wayne State University Board of Governors, signed by 70 faith leaders in Detroit, chastising them for the use of police against the student encampment. He concluded that “when you put all these people together in the same room a pattern and process of abuse is clear.”
Informing people about what is really happening in our city, organizing in our communities for safety, and building the kinds of security we deserve was a collective promise.