DETROIT (WXYZ) — At a recent meeting of Detroit’s Board of Police Commissioners, minister Eric Blount took to the microphone.
“No one knows what the board of police commissioners does,” he said.
Blount, a fixture at the weekly meetings, was furious over the latest embarrassment to hang over the board.
Earlier that month, commissioners voted 9-0 to promote an officer who’d been accused by three different women of domestic violence.
ONGOING COVERAGE: Conduct Unbecoming: Detroit’s Troubled Officers
Most board members said they didn’t know, even though the officer’s history was disclosed to them in writing days before the vote.
“They are there to address police officer misconduct,” Blount recently said of the board. “And they are the front line.”
But in the fight to hold Detroit’s troubled cops accountable, Blount and even some commissioners believe this board is losing.
Made up seven elected commissioners and four appointed by the mayor, the board meets weekly and is funded by taxpayers to the tune of nearly $4 million a year.
In the last two years, consider all the officer misconduct we’ve found that the board didn’t know about.
Sgt. Stephen Kue—hit with 85 citizen complaints following repeated allegations of excessive force, repeated use of the n-word and lying.
Sgt. William Zeollaracked up nearly 100 citizen complaints, 12 lawsuits and nearly $800,000 in settlements.
At least a dozen officers found to have abused citizens, women or children who remained on the force.
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Today, the board is being investigated by DPD's internal affairs unit over unproven claims of a ghost employee on staff, which officials have denied, and concerns over whether a backlog of citizen complaints were properly investigated before being closed.
Commissioner Ricardo Moore is not defending the board’s track record.
“What grade would you give this board?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“Probably about a D,” Moore said. “We’re majoring in the minors...we’re missing the big stuff.”
Frequently, board meetings turn into screaming matches, with commissioners shouting down one another or calling for recesses in the hopes of quelling the chaos.
“It’s disrespectful, it’s shameful, it’s not what the commission should be about,” said former commissioner Reggie Crawford, who last served on the board in 2018.
“You need oversight over the oversight in Detroit now,” he said. “The individuals who are sitting there? No one in the community has any confidence in these individuals.”
The board also writes and approves policy, governing how DPD uses technology like its controversial facial recognition program.
At a meeting last month, Commissioner Annie Holt was unaware a policy was already in place.
“When should we look forward to policy coming out of DPD that will even help us understand the consequences of this technology being abused?” Holt asked Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes.
“This honorable body has already approved that policy,” Hayes responded.
“When did we—oh. When, please, I’m sorry,” Holt said.
“Back in 2019,” Hayes replied.
Holt had joined the board seven months before the policy was approved.
No commissioner on the board today has served longer than Burton, who is also its loudest voice.
“I think the board wastes a lot of time, and we need to be focusing on officer misconduct,” he said.
But just last month, it was the board who unanimously promoted Officer Lemuel Sims, accused by three different women of domestic violence.
His history was disclosed to board members—but several commissioners, including Burton—say they didn’t read it.
“The board definitely has to do a much better job, but the department needs to do a better job being transparent,” Burton said.
“But if what they’re already sending you, you and your fellow board members aren’t reading...is the problem transparency or is the problem that you’re not doing your job?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“Then it falls on staff,” Burton said.
“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” Jones said. “The city doesn’t elect staff, they elect you as commissioners.”
“Correct,” Burton said. “But we have staff that have not been evaluated.”
Despite the mounting controversies, Minister Eric Blount won’t turn his back on the commission. Their purpose, he says, is just too important.
So he’ll be there, attending their weekly meetings, reminding commissioners every time they fall short.
“Maybe I could look the other way if this was about mosquito catchers,” Blount said. “But the vast majority of people that are affected by the corruption of this board are young Black males in this city.”
“And for that, I can never be silent. I can never give up.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or (248) 827-9466.
