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Grand Traverse County: Request For Board Action

Community members presented a list of 10 requested law enforcement reforms to the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners. The reforms focused on ending racial profiling, establishing anti-profiling policies and procedures, requiring body and dash cameras, providing implicit bias training, halting voluntary cooperation with ICE, realigning budget priorities, establishing independent citizen oversight, and pledging ongoing action until the reforms are implemented. The Board was asked to discuss the requests with the Sheriff and community members presenting the list.

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Trevor Drew
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2K views

Grand Traverse County: Request For Board Action

Community members presented a list of 10 requested law enforcement reforms to the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners. The reforms focused on ending racial profiling, establishing anti-profiling policies and procedures, requiring body and dash cameras, providing implicit bias training, halting voluntary cooperation with ICE, realigning budget priorities, establishing independent citizen oversight, and pledging ongoing action until the reforms are implemented. The Board was asked to discuss the requests with the Sheriff and community members presenting the list.

Uploaded by

Trevor Drew
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY

REQUEST FOR BOARD ACTION

MEETING DATE: June 17, 2020

DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners

SUBMITTED BY: Betsy Coffia, District 1

SUBJECT: Increased safety for people of color in Grand Traverse County

RECOMMENDATION:
Discussion

SUMMARY:
Community requested law enforcement reforms
ATTACHMENTS:
Commissioner Coffia - Reform Request
agenda item for June 17 BOC meeting
Betsy Coffia Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 10:47 PM
To: Nathan Alger, Lisa Emery

Good evening Nate and Lisa,

I am formally placing the below list of community requested law enforcement reforms on our agenda, as requested by
local black community members at the June 6 Solidarity with Black Lives Matter rally in Traverse City. This rally was
attended by nearly two thousand residents from our city and county.

Please attach this e-mail with the list below as the agenda item.

I am asking the Sheriff to be present as will the local black community members who composed the list and are asking for
these changes for increased safety for people of color in our county. The item on the agenda will include them formally
presenting the list and their immediate requests for next steps from us as a county government.

Please let me know asap if the Sheriff is unable to attend.

List below:

1. END PROFILING PRACTICES: City and county LE immediately cease practice of profiling response calls
when citizens profile our neighbors by calling police on someone who is breaking no laws but simply because the
think the person ‘doesn’t belong,” “looks suspicious” or other codes for saying these neighbors are BIPOC,
possibly experiencing homelessness or mentally ill etc.
2. REPLACE WITH RESOURCE REFERRALS: instead of responding with an armed officer to such profiling
calls, train your police and 911 to screen and ask questions to point the citizen to Homeless Outreach or CMH, or
simply to reiterate that a person has a right to be on a public street or sidewalk, to exist in the community without
being questioned and harassed.
3. ESTABLISH ANTI-PROFILING POLICY AND PROCEDURE: Within 3 weeks, produce policy stating this
profiling practice is prohibited and adopting best practices for the 911/police referral process.
4. CITY AND COUNTY - BODY CAMERAS AND DASH CAMERAS INSTALLATION AND MANDATORY USE:
divert funds from *current* budget, rather than increasing police budget. Establish mandatory policy that every
officer wears a body camera, to be left on at all times. Police officers shutting off camera while on duty should
trigger immediate disciplinary action and shutting camera off in a criminal incident should result in
firing/termination.
5. COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT PROVIDE ANNUAL IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING: We acknowledge and support the
city police’s implicit bias training. We call on the Sheriff to support his officers and staff by providing immediate
and annual implicit bias training. By June 30, launch mandatory implicit bias training for all LE (city and county)
with a training program selected by BIPOC led anti-racism task force.
6. END RACIST ICE/CBP HOLDS: Sheriff department immediately halt all ICE and CBP holds of nonviolent
people detained by local police, a practice that is believed to be unconstitutional and is a totally voluntary current
practice. Do not call ICE/CBP when stopping Latinx people in our community.
Within 30 days, written sheriff policy stating it will not cooperate with ICE and CBP for voluntary holds of non
violent people detained by local police.
7. REALIGN BUDGET PRIORITIES toward proactive community support. Transparent budget breakdown for
sheriff dept budget which is 40% of 40mil budget is sheriff office within the next 2 weeks. The sheriff
department’s budget is 40% of the county’s general fund budget of $40 million. 30% is considered high for
municipalities nationally to spend on law enforcement. Work with black and other BIPOC to realign general fund
budget to divert 15% of sheriff budget to non-policing community health and safety issues.
8. COMMITMENT FROM POLICE UNIONS not to protect membership who engage in criminal behavior toward
people in their custody.

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9. ESTABLISH AND FUND FROM THE SHERIFF & CITY POLICE BUDGET, an independent citizen oversight
commission, with membership being human rights commission representatives, civil rights attorneys as well as a
majority of at large black and other BIPOC and other marginalized constituencies such as disability, LGBTQ+
and migrant workers. Budget should provide for infrastructure to allow proper oversight. Police cannot and
should not investigate themselves. The Commission should act as a review for complaints and refer to AG or
Civil Rights Commission as needed.
10. ALL ANTI-RACIST GT COUNTY AND CITY RESIDENTS PLEDGE TO ACT IN AN ONGOING WAY ON
THESE DEMANDS - pledge to stand with black and BIPOC neighbors in this community by vigorously pursuing
these policy changes with your elected and appointed sheriff and chief of police, police unions, city and county
commissions until they are all in place and properly funded. #BlackLivesMatter

Thank you. Please let me know asap that this agenda item has been added as requested, with this e-mail submitted as
the agenda packet information for context.

Betsy Coffia
Grand Traverse County Commissioner, District 1

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