Police to Deploy Helicopter, Drones in East Lansing as MSU Students Return for New School Year
A helicopter and drones are among the tools police plan to deploy in downtown East Lansing this weekend, as Michigan State University students return to town for a new school year.
The East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, announced plans to have an aerial presence in a press release Friday, along with increased patrols of officers on foot, on bicycles and in cars.
Capt. Adrian Ojerio, the ELPD’s public information officer, told East Lansing Info in an email that ELPD’s request for a Michigan State Police helicopter during MSU’s welcome weekend is new, but that an MSP helicopter has been present for other large events like big sports games and MSU’s homecoming parade. Ojerio said the MSP helicopter will fly at the agency’s discretion and will not hover and generally does not use a spotlight.
Drones are relatively new to the ELPD, as the department began deploying them last year, Ojerio said. He said the ELPD has one outdoor drone and other drones from partner agencies may be used, adding that they are used for spotting and overwatch.
“We are leaning into collaboration and working together to ensure that Downtown is prepared and well-supported throughout the fall,” ELPD Chief Jennifer Brown said in Friday’s news release.
In the release, Brown said the department has been working on fall safety plans for months. Last fall, the owners of several downtown businesses said large downtown fights presented safety risks to their employees and patrons.
On an annual basis, crime remained relatively steady in East Lansing over the previous three years.
In Friday’s release, Brown said the department’s goal this school year and during major sporting events is to promote safety while fostering a welcoming environment in the city’s downtown.
“Keeping everyone safe during the first weekend of the school year, and throughout the football season, is a responsibility we all share. Our department as well as our regional partners, Downtown businesses, MSU and the community all play a part in creating a welcoming and safe environment. We are asking students, residents and visitors to join us in making this a fall we can all be proud of,” Brown said in the news release.
Students are returning to East Lansing amid compounding controversy surrounding the police department, as critics have called for police leaders to answer for a substantial increase in the amount of times officers used force last year and a series of high profile incidents where officers injured people while on the job.
For the last year, community members from the city and MSU have beseeched the East Lansing City Council to address what local organizations like the Lansing branch of the NAACP say is a chronic problem with violence against individuals of color by ELPD officers.
City and police leaders have still provided few answers after officers pepper-sprayed and arrested two young Black men in the downtown during welcome weekend last year. The ELPD named both men in a press release and said they were arrested and charged for fighting, but security footage from a business later released showed one of the men intervened to deescalate an altercation. Charges against both men were later dropped and they are now suing the city.
Earlier this month, an East Lansing police officer was seen punching a 20-year-old Black woman with her arms behind her back in a video posted on social media.
The city responded in a statement saying the video is incomplete and there is more to the incident, but has not released any further information to the public about the Aug. 2 incident.
Concerned for the safety of students returning to school and young students of color arriving at the college campus for the first time, a group of local residents has banded together to keep an eye on the downtown this welcome week.
Tashmica Torok, who is helping to organize these community watch efforts, told ELi this week that in East Lansing, it’s imperative that community members keep an eye on ELPD to make sure that they are not being violent with people visiting the downtown.
“Who protects the young people that are in downtown East Lansing? Because it’s not going to be the businesses, it’s not going to be the police,” Torok told ELi. “How are we engineering a situation where business owners are allowed to over serve students to the point that they’re falling down in the street … the police are standing right there … it is not an OK thing to just let them go and act like we don’t know that they are in a dangerous situation. That the police in East Lansing are dangerous to young people, particularly young people who are Black and brown.”