Calls for Transparency Clash with Safety Concerns in East Lansing Police Oversight Debate

This week’s City Council meeting featured robust discussion about policing. Many community members spoke during public comment asking for transparency about arrests and force used by East Lansing police during Michigan State University’s welcome week, while others praised ELPD’s handling of violent incidents that they say have become common downtown. 

The discussion took place as the city prepares to finalize changes to the ordinance governing its independent police oversight commission. 

The changes, which city officials have said are required because of a new contract with a police union, have been put in place since the contract was approved and strip the commission of some of its powers. The changes include redacting officer information from reports, limiting what commissioners can talk about publicly and delaying the timeline the commission receives information about complaints on. 

Commissioners are frustrated about the city’s proposed changes to the ordinance, saying some amendments go beyond what the contract requires. A vote to enshrine the changes in the city’s ordinance is set to take place Sept. 23.

Council speaks with labor attorney in closed session. 

City Council met with its Labor Attorney Gouri Sashital Tuesday, Sept. 9 during a special meeting held mostly in closed session to “consider the written legal opinion of labor council.” Before council left for closed session, Oversight Commissioner Chris Root asked council to share a confidential document that explains how ordinance changes are mandated by the new contract.

“I think it’s a minimal ask for the commission to be able to see the document that answers the basic factual questions about where each amendment came from,” Root said. “The City Council can act to waive the privilege to keep the document confidential simply by getting a majority vote on a motion to do so.” 

Following the closed session, City Council held its regular meeting. At the start of that meeting, Councilmember Dana Watson motioned to add two items to the agenda. One item was to release part of a document prepared by labor counsel that would help explain the ordinance changes. The other was to push the vote on the ordinance changes back about a month to Oct. 21.

Four of five council members voted in favor of Watson’s motion, but amending an agenda requires unanimous consent. Councilmember Erik Altmann voted against, blocking discussion on Watson’s proposed agenda additions.

Public comment features speakers urging police accountability and transparency, others speaking in support of ELPD. 

Matthew Boughton, who sits on the city’s Human Rights Commission, spoke against the proposed changes to the oversight commission’s ordinance and the ripple effect it can have on the community. 

“The proposed changes will not make East Lansing safer,” he said. “In fact, they may make it less safe as it could prevent vulnerable populations from seeking out health in a time of need due to the fear that they will not have just and meaningful recourse if things go wrong. The changes allow the police department to police themselves.” 

Andrew Stewart, a Black man who lives in East Lansing, shared three anecdotes about scary experiences he had with ELPD. In these instances, he said he was misidentified by police, officers pointed their guns at him while he was at his home and he received a slow response after calling for an ambulance.

“These three incidents of misidentification, armed confrontation, and delayed medical response have left my family traumatized,” he said. “We no longer feel safe in our home, and we no longer believe calling the police guarantees protection. Instead, we live in fear that another mistake can cost us our lives.” 

Harold Pope, president of the Lansing NAACP branch, spoke against the ordinance changes, stating that the purpose of an oversight commission is to review police practices, investigate misconduct and foster public trust. 

“Transparency is the key to trust. The oversight commission is the key to transparency,” Pope said. 

Pope said he met with East Lansing Police Chief Jen Brown and City Manager Robert Belleman after the weekend of Aug. 25, when fights downtown resulted in officers using a taser and pepper spray. The NAACP asked to see the body-worn camera footage, as well as the demographic data of those arrested that night.

“We were told that the prosecutor advised against showing the body cam footage, so I called the prosecutor directly,” Pope said. “He confirmed that he was only referring to the one incident regarding the tasing, not all incidents.”

Additionally, Brown said she would send demographic data on the arrests made, according to Pope. After following up with Brown, the NAACP was told to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to receive the data. 

“That is the complete opposite of transparency,” Pope said. “If these changes are made to the ELIPOC ordinance, it will be an environment without true oversight, transparency and accountability.”

Nadia Sellers, CEO of Okemos-based nonprofit organization Honey Bear Project, echoed Pope’s frustration about the lack of transparency following MSU’s welcome weekend.

“Some arrests were made that may have been justified, but what about the ones that weren’t?” Sellers asked. “Who’s going to get those young people justice?” 

Honey Bear Project works to empower underrepresented youth, according to its website. In a call with ELi, Sellers said she is currently working with three clients, who are all Black, and were arrested for disorderly conduct the evening of Aug. 25.

“How can you arrest someone for disorderly conduct when you’ve got a thousand people being disorderly in the city?” Sellers said. 

The meeting also featured business owners and downtown workers who said that late-night violence has become much more common over the last few years. These speakers thanked ELPD for officers’ actions and urged the city to support public safety initiatives. 

Paul Vlahakis, who owns multiple East Lansing businesses, including El Azteco and Dublin Square, said his businesses have had to close early some nights due to violence downtown. 

“Recent incidents downtown have raised understandable concerns,” Vlahakis said. “In moments like these, emotions run how many, and questions are natural. But we must remember that our police officers are here to protect us…criticizing them unfairly does not make us safer, supporting them does.” 

John Vlahakis, who manages El Azteco, said there are almost always fights in the plaza in front of the restaurant when the bars empty out at 2 a.m. on weekends.

“Up until COVID, we really never saw this active violence consistently,” he said. “Walking into work on a Friday or Saturday night, [I’m] knowing that it’s going to happen again tonight and I need to be aware of my surroundings.”

Ali Haider, owner of the 7-Eleven on Albert Ave., had a similar message. He said female workers can’t even carry out all their job duties, like going outside to change the trash at night, because they will be harassed.

 “My business has been there for like 30 years, and I have witnessed a lot of loitering and encampments downtown that are harming our community,” Haider said. “My employees are quitting due to safety concerns, and customer traffic has declined as people avoid that area.” 

Haider also said that his 17-year-old son asked if he could go to Pinball Pete’s with friends on a Friday night. Haider, however, did not feel it was safe for his son to be out late at night downtown. 

“I don’t think downtown is safe or secure for families or children,” he said. “We need more police protection and it’s not a matter of race, it’s a matter of safety.”

Joe David, the owner of Landshark, said he has seen “dozens and dozens” of ELPD responses downtown and officers are swift and fair. 

“I appreciate what they’re doing both as a business owner and a person who resides in East Lansing,” David said. 

During council communications, Watson said the city and ELPD need to look into new ways to address the bad behavior downtown.

“If you ask a police person what to do, they’re going to say hire more police officers,” she said. “What better ideas do we have? What different ideas do we have? Why are we the only Big 10 [University town] that had a problematic welcome week? How do Michigan State Police do it? There’s football games, there’s tons of people on campus, how are they not in the news the way we are?”

Councilmember Mark Meadows said there needs to be a public discussion about “what’s going right in the downtown and what’s going wrong.”

Altmann said council needs to get its “arms around” the issue of violence downtown. 

“I am concerned that East Lansing has become a place where people come to cause trouble,” he said. “That’s a hard reputation to shake.”

Lucas Day contributed to this reporting.