Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality Reissues Call for Resolution of Citizen Complaints

Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality and Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, at a demonstration in August of 2000. (Photo: Dale Rich).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ron Scott, 313.399.7345

Coalition Reissues Call for Resolution of Citizen Complaints

Victims to be in Attendance at Federal Court Show Cause Hearing

2/23/10--The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality will be in attendance at Federal Judge Julian Cook's hearing of an order to show cause initiated by the U.S. Attorney on behalf of the Federal Monitor in the ongoing Detroit Police Department Consent Decrees.

The hearing will be held:

Monday, March 1, 2010
9:00 a.m.
Court of Federal Judge Julian Cook
231 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226

"From the beginning of this agreement between the City of Detroit and the Justice Department, we have contended that the missing parties have been those citizens who were victims of use of force and confinement violations, many of whom have died as a result," said Coalition spokesperson Ron Scott. Now the Federal Monitor has found that efforts to resolve the complaints of 1,100 cases have been miserably handled and still await resolution. The Monitor has also noted that the Management Awareness System which was supposed to track "bad" officers is literally non-existent. We said this several years ago, when we filed a Motion to Intervene on behalf of the aggrieved citizens. At that point, Judge Cook's decision to deny that motion left citizens out in the cold, hurt, bleeding and begging for justice. We can only hope that this new effort on the Court's part will give a modicum of resolution to the ongoing physical pains of the victims, and the monetary pains of Detroit's citizens. The Coalition will bring many of those victims to this Court hearing."

Scott added that the Coalition believes that a special Master should be appointed to oversee the Consent Judgment. "It is not enough," he said, "to monitor what the police department does not do and report back to the Court. It is necessary to have someone who has the legal authority, on a daily basis, to initiate sanctions and make rectifications while the people are in need."

During the past year, the Coalition has had more than 300 complaints directly submitted to its offices, and has referred an additional 150 to the Detroit Police Department's Office of the Chief Investigator and Internal Affairs.

"The lives of families have been disrupted, communities have been adversely impacted, and lawsuits are in progress as the Detroit Police Department ramps up its targeting of 'hot spots' with the use of Strike Forces, the Gang Squad, and Multijurisdictional Task Forces," said Scott. If the Court does not act now, things can only get worse. While we welcome this Show Cause hearing, we feel that Judge Cook has to attach much, much more urgency to the real-life conditions that brought this Consent Judgment into being."