Police Chief Jen Brown Starts Tenure With Backing of City Manager, Concerns From Oversight Commission

The decision to name Jen Brown as the next East Lansing chief of police is a sign that the city manager has confidence in the direction of the police department. 

Since the start of December 2024, Brown has led ELPD on an interim basis. As East Lansing’s top cop, she guided the department through budget season, put a focus on officer wellness, and prioritized recruitment and retention. 

While city leaders and police officers reacted positively to Brown’s hiring, the chair of the city’s police oversight commission told ELi that he has serious concerns about what the decision means for transparency and accountability in policing. 

East Lansing’s new police chief has already strengthened ties between MSU police, ELPD.

Brown took a long, winding road to the top of the East Lansing Police Department, without ever straying far from home. 

After growing up in Lansing, Brown attended Michigan State University and spent 15 years working in the MSU police department before taking a job in private industry.

Brown did not plan to leave policing, but was lured by a local legend – Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

Brown explained that she became an expert on sports safety and security through her work at MSU, and worked as a consultant around the country on the topic. When she was consulting for one of Johnson’s companies, the two bonded over their shared experiences as Michigan State University and Lansing Everett High School students. 

One of Johnson’s companies ended up offering Brown a job she said she couldn’t turn down.

“I have some great pictures of Magic and I,” Brown said. “He was just a very, very kind person to work with and have interactions with.”

 While in that role, Brown said she was able to work from home and raise her two children in the Greater-Lansing area. 

Brown spent 10 years working for Johnson’s company and another private business before returning to policing as a deputy chief for ELPD in late 2023. Brown said watching her daughter graduate from the Mid-Michigan Police Academy and join the Lansing Police Department inspired her to return to policing.

“Her passion for law enforcement and excitement just gave me the itch to come back,” Brown said. 

When Brown joined ELPD, she expected to work under then-Chief Kim Johnson for years. However, months into Brown’s tenure, Johnson resigned after he was subject to an internal complaint. Chad Pride served as interim chief until December of 2024, before stepping down and passing the role to Brown.

Brown said that since joining ELPD one of the biggest tasks she has taken on is strengthening the partnership between ELPD and MSU. 

“When I was at MSU, we often had separate plans, we had separate training, separate emergency responses and over the last year-and-a-half, in collaboration with Michigan State University’s Emergency Management Department, we have really worked closely together to have one set of plans, one set of trainings, one tabletop exercise,” Brown said. “So that we can collaborate together and have a unified plan that would benefit both the city and the university.” 

City manager, ELPD lieutenant think highly of Brown. 

Thursday, May 29, the Hannah Community Center’s banquet room was packed with Brown’s family and friends, law enforcement officials from East Lansing and surrounding jurisdictions, and city officials to see Brown sworn-in as the next East Lansing police chief. 

“There was never a doubt in my mind that Jen was qualified to be chief of [police in] the City of East Lansing,” City Manager Robert Belleman said when addressing the audience at the ceremony.  

In an interview with ELi, ELPD Lieutenant Adrian Ojerio said there was excitement within ELPD when it was announced that Brown would continue to serve as police chief. He said she genuinely cares for the officers serving under her and the community as a whole. 

He added that Brown’s willingness to listen to those around her and consider their feedback has been a commendable leadership quality. 

“She’s very open to listening and considering all ideas from all stakeholders,” Ojerio said. “That’s not just the officers that she oversees, but the community members that she interacts with.”

Brown remaining in the role will bring some continuity that is welcomed in a department that has had three chiefs in just over a year, Ojerio said.

A top priority will be addressing staff shortages at ELPD. 

One of the biggest challenges Brown will need to address is staffing in the police department.

When the fiscal year concludes at the end of June, it will mark the sixth straight cycle that has come and gone without ELPD reaching full staffing. 

The staffing shortages have caused ELPD to operate with a smaller road patrol, limiting its ability to enforce traffic laws, and forcing many officers to work significant overtime hours to fill in the gaps. 

“All of our officers here at the East Lansing Police Department are doing more with less,” Brown said. “I’m asking all of our folks from the highest ranking officer down to our officer that’s been here for a week to do more.”

There are many factors that contribute to staffing levels in a police department – from leadership to compensation to work environment. While Brown can’t control all factors, she made officer recruitment and retention a priority during her half-year leading the department as interim chief. 

Ojerio praised Brown’s recruitment and retention efforts. While ELPD remains understaffed, he said the department is drawing applicants, and still being selective of who is hired. 

“We’re not just hiring people to hire people,” he said. “We’re taking time and selectively picking candidates that we feel will be the best fit for the East Lansing Police Department and the community as a whole.”

As part of an effort to make sure ELPD is a place people want to work, Brown said the department has ramped up its officer wellness program. 

The department has set up unique relationships to bring in speakers to talk to officers about things like, sleep, nutrition and mental health. 

Brown said the department recently started using the Cordico wellness app. The app allows ELPD employees, their families and retirees to anonymously request a variety of mental health support services if needed, including access to peer support groups, therapists and even clergy. 

The app also offers information on more than 60 mental and physical health topics, including nutrition, suicide prevention and fitness programs. 

Brown said that her favorite wellness initiative has been Silas, a goldendoodle that belongs to one of the department’s social workers. Silas began serving as ELPD’s community comfort dog late last year. 

The city’s police oversight commission chair doesn’t trust Brown.

During her time as interim chief, interactions between Brown and members of the city’s police oversight commission were often tense. 

At an oversight commission meeting earlier this year, Brown said some commissioners “hate cops,” a remark she later apologized for. Brown said she talked to some commissioners individually, hoping to rebuild those fractured relationships.

However, in May the oversight commission was told a new contract between the police patrol officers’ union and city would create changes impacting the commission’s work. Commissioners said these changes hurt transparency and accountability in policing, further dividing the police department and oversight commission. 

“I don’t trust anything that she says,” East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission Chair Ernest Conerly told ELi. 

Conerly was included in one of the panels that interviewed the four police chief finalists as part of the search process. He said he believes Brown was the least qualified of the finalists, and that Belleman wasted $40,000 on a search process “just to pick the person that everybody knew he was already going to pick.” 

Conerly said the oversight commission’s ability to carry out its work has been hurt during Brown’s time as interim chief. He said the commission has been receiving less information about patterns with certain officers and complaints. 

“I do not think she believes in police accountability, I think she believes in making sure that the rank and files are happy,” Conerly said. “I don’t see her as a transparent police chief at all.”

Brown said she remains hopeful that she can collaborate with the oversight commission to do what is in the best interest of the city. 

“I personally and professionally believe in oversight,” Brown said. “I think we ultimately have the same goal, in terms of making it the best police department in the area. It’s just a matter of how we’re going to get there.”