The Detroit Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability  (CPTA) held a public hearing on police brutality November 21, 2020. For more than 3 hours people recounted the history of violence embedded in the Detroit Police Department. In story after story, spanning more than 50 years, we heard details of unprovoked, life-shattering encounters with physical and psychological assaults suffered at the hands of police.

People spoke of doing the most ordinary things in their lives. Mailing an application for a scholarship, dropping off a child’s car seat,  or going on a first date. These quiet moments were interrupted by vicious police assaults, changing lives forever. As one witness commented, it seemed “ just being black” justified police violence.

The hearings also provided a forum for people who had experienced police violence while exercising their right to be critical of public policies and police conduct. Individuals outlined in quiet, graphic detail, abuses they had endured, including being beaten, kicked, handcuffed, denied medication, intentionally placed in filthy, unsafe conditions, ridiculed, choked, and threatened with death.

People living without documents shared the daily terror and fear of police, keeping many in their homes, afraid to take children to school, go to work, get groceries, or go to church. 

This was the third public event sponsored by the CPTA since July. 

The Coalition was formed in the wake of police killing of Hakim Littleton. Mr. Littleton was killed during a chance encounter in his neighborhood. This shooting provoked immediate response by the community and marked one of the most violent responses by police to public protests. 

Chief Craig released a video within hours of the killing, claiming it vindicated the officers, as Mr. Littleton appears to pull a gun and shoot at police. 

Chief Craig is so immersed in the use of force and the perspective of police, he did not see what many of community people saw clearly on the video.

We see a frightened young man walking down the street, seeing his friend being arrested. The young man is approached by police and he pulls a gun , shoots and appears to try and run away. Mr. Littleton is tackled, possibly shot, and ends up flat on the ground, the gun kicked away. He is clearly subdued. More shots are fired by police. Then an officer runs up and points a gun directly at the back of Mr. Littlteton’s head, firing the shot that killed him.

The Coalition took the tape played by Chief Craig and simply slowed it down to reveal the questions that emerge from the death. It held a press conference, released the video with a community perspective, and called for an independent investigation. In a statement accompanying the video, Coalition members said:

"Although Chief James Craig immediately characterized the killing as an appropriate use of force, members of the community are left with many questions, not the least of which is whether the death could have been avoided altogether if officers had used the law enforcement profession's best practices and employed de-escalation techniques." 

The CPTA continues to call for an independent investigation of this case, as well as the series of shooting deaths that followed within two weeks of the killing of Hakim Littleton. 

The second effort to expose the violence of the Detroit Police was a People’s Tribunal that highlighted the many questions raised by this killing. You can watch the tribunal here, as well as find supporting material about the case.

Four elected officials attended the Hearing as listeners: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, State Senator Stephanie Chang, and Detroit City Council members, Mary Sheffield and Raquel Castaneda-Lopez.

Currently, the Detroit Police Department has accelerated aggressive behavior, including pursuing a lawsuit against protestors, and attempting to ramp up technologies of surveillance in our city. Police are asking for millions of dollars for listening devices and cameras to be deployed in neighborhoods.

What should be clear to anyone who listens to these public hearings is that since their beginning, police have been used to repress, control, intimidate and kill those who challenge power and privilege.  Especially Black people. Police do not make us safe. Safety comes as we care for one another, often in the face of violent authorities.