The East Lansing Human Rights Commission (HRC) held a meeting Feb. 4 with East Lansing Police Department's (ELPD) Chief Kim Johnson and Deputy Chief Steve Gonzalez.
According to the ELPD's 2020 Complaint Summary Report, six complaints against employees were received
from members of the public. To address individual employees’ behavior regarding policy
and procedure violations, the department initiated
four administrative inquiries. All complaints and administrative inquiries were assigned to police supervisors for
investigation of the incident. The investigations
are then referred to the Chief of Police for review, a final determination of the investigation’s
disposition and any necessary disciplinary actions.
The memorandum sent from Johnson to City Manager George Lahanas, details the contents of the 2020 Officer-Initiated Contact Report. There were several months early
in the year and during the last quarter of 2020 where the percentage of police
contacts with people of color, specifically African Americans/Black people of color, was over 20%. Johnson, who had not been chief of police at the time, said this was a point of concern in the memorandum.
During the HRC meeting, the ELPD described their transition to "Community Oriented Policing initiatives," also outlined in the memorandum. This includes the incorporation of the two Police Social Workers and four Neighborhood Resource Specialists in the new Community Engagement Team. The policing model redesign aims to build social work connections.
Arbitrary queries of license plates are now prohibited. In accordance with the response to resistance policy, head stabilization techniques are limited but allowed in "self-defense" scenarios. Officers are required to intervene in cases of extreme forces against civilians.
On Feb. 8, the Police Oversight Commission is meeting at 6 p.m. via Zoom to discuss the use of force by race, policy revisions and the complaint summary report.
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