Weeks of back-and-forth debate ensued between ELIPOC and the city council as members of the commission expressed frustration over the limited time they were given to review the proposed ordinance changes. The second reading, originally scheduled for Sept. 23, was deferred to Oct. 21 after councilmember Dana Watson successfully moved to postpone it. 

Members of ELIPOC took issue with the "sweeping changes" made to the ordinance and the lack of transparency over the source of the changes. Commissioner Chris Root called for a cross-reference document to be made publicly available, highlighting the source of the proposed amendments at a council meeting in September. 

Deliberations temporarily stalled again on Tuesday evening when Watson attempted to move the second reading of the ordinance to the first post-election council meeting on Dec. 9. Councilmember Mark Meadows seconded the motion but said that the council should only approve the required amendments and leave the rest for approval in December.

Mayor Pro-Tem Kerry Singh expressed concerns over not adhering to the collective bargaining agreement, noting that future councils will be able to make additional changes as needed. 

"That doesn't mean the conversation is over," said Singh. 

Mayor George Brookover reiterated Singh’s concerns about possible repercussions if the council chose not to approve the ordinance amendments. "If we don't do something like this, we're then going to have a very, very complicated collective bargaining situation relative to the police oversight legislation that we passed," he said.  

The motion to move the reading ultimately failed 2-3 with councilmember Erik Altmann, Singh and Brookover dissenting. 

Singh then introduced a motion to approve the amendments, which was then passed via roll call vote 4-1 with Watson dissenting. 

"We wasted a whole bunch of people's time by even insinuating that we were going to listen to them in any way, shape or form," Watson said during discussion.  

Calls for Brown to resign grow

Last week, ELIPOC passed a motion calling for the resignation of Brown over her handling of numerous Welcome Weekend arrests. The commission joined the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the NAACP in requesting that the city remove Brown from her position as police chief. 

After a July 2025 report found that Black residents disproportionately face some kind of use of force compared to other demographic groups, Brown addressed the concerns in an interview with WLNS, saying that a "disproportionate number of minorities" come to East Lansing to "commit crimes, and as police officers we are simply responding to those crimes."

Brown then issued an apology shortly thereafter, which the HRC referred to as "tone deaf."

"Her behavior has eroded the community’s faith in her ability to be an agent of change who can transform the ELPD into a police department that treats all community members with dignity and respect," the HRC wrote in a statement to The State News. 

Members of ELIPOC and HRC have also alleged that Brown penned an inflammatory and inaccurate press release on Sept. 26 naming two people — Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods — who were wrongfully detained and pepper-sprayed on Aug. 24. Charges were recently dropped against both Woods and Smith. 

City manager Rob Belleman was aware that Brown had access to the body-worn camera footage weeks before releasing it to the public and had previously dismissed calls for her resignation to allow for Brown to have a
"teachable moment."

ELIPOC Vice Chair Kath Edsall decried Belleman’s role in the handling of the press release at the council meeting. "White women scream and black men get lynched and a white city manager brings the rope," Edsall said. "Are we living in the Jim Crow South?"

During public comment, community members also echoed calls for Brown’s removal. 

"There is no amount of training, no apology, no policy change that can restore the integrity once it has been deliberately compromised," said Rebbeca Kasen, the Executive Director of the Women’s Center for Greater Lansing. "Chief Brown's lack of leadership is not only filled with bias, it encourages a culture of cover-ups and damage control."

Diane Shafer, Brown’s administrative assistant, spoke in support of the police chief. Since 2010, Schafer has seen 11 police chiefs take the helm of the ELPD and said Brown has "integrity."

Her comments spurred Lansing resident Farhan Sheikh-Omar to say that the ELPD ought to "clean house."

"For as long as that she's in power, expect to see a boycott in the city," Sheikh-Omar said. "We will boycott all your businesses. Anyone who calls the city home will literally boycott your businesses, and then you will have to deal with the consequences for that."