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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint state police post commander disagrees
www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/01/commander_of...
Jan 16, 2013 ... Bolger Matt 2012.jpg State police Lt. Matt Bolger ... State Police Flint post said he disagrees with Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell's ...
Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell wants
www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/09/genesee_coun...
Sep 26, 2012... of the Michigan State Police in Flint for suggesting state troopers are ... (First Lt. Matt) Bolger's comment (that) local law enforcement officers, ...
Who is protecting Flint? – FlintBlueBadge
www.flintbluebadge.com/who-is-protecting-flint/
Pickell also had concerns about paying state troopers when their wages are ... following Pickell's presentation, we asked Commander First Lt. Matt Bolger of the ...
Flint Talk Forums View topic - Sheriff
www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=68857
Pickell first made the mobile unit proposal last year, but saw Snyder back his ..... Michigan State Police Flint Post Commander Matt Bolger said ...
Detroit police say: Enter at your own risk -
www.speroforum.com/a/YSHHVOKFLT6/73176-Detroit-police-s...
Oct 6, 2012 ... First Lieutenant Matt Bolger of the Michigan State Police told a local ... paid less than Michigan State Police, are inferior officers," Pickell said.
Flint Talk Forums View topic - Is Public safety Plan
flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=68040
Speaking to the county Board of Commissioners, Pickell said he will send .... New Michigan State Police Flint post commander Matt Bolger has ... |
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Sat May 11, 2013 5:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Who is protecting Flint?
-By Kate Cole and Chris Zuwala (Reprinted from the April 2013 Flint Our Community Our Voice)
Sheriff Robert J. Pickell spoke at the East Side Business Association meeting on Feb. 13. He said he supported state police presence in Flint, but regretted Lansing didn’t consider racial factors when sending officers to Flint. Pickell also had concerns about paying state troopers when their wages are spent outside the city.
In a subsequent interview following Pickell’s presentation, we asked Commander First Lt. Matt Bolger of the Flint Post if there was a racial factor that should have been considered.
Bolger replied saying, “The Michigan State Police (MSP) cannot assign people to work certain assignments based on race. This would be a violation of that individual’s civil rights and a violation of the Elliott Larson Civil Rights Act, let alone the US Constitution,” Bolger said.
Regarding Pickell’s comment about state troopers living outside the city, Bolger said, “Troopers working in Flint are either Flint Post troopers and sergeants (22 of them) or Lapeer Post troopers and a sergeant that have been assigned to the Flint Post (6 of them). The Lapeer troopers have been working in Flint for quite some time (most for over a year) and, in fact, the sergeant from Lapeer assigned to this detail was formerly a Flint Post trooper.
Most of the troopers assigned to the Flint Post live in Genesee County. Contrary to the sheriff’s contention, there are no “up north” troopers assigned to Flint. In my tenure at the post, there have never been “up north” troopers assigned to Flint.
In his remarks to the East Side Business Association, Pickell said he favors hiring local police officers with the money the state provided Bolger responded to that comment saying, “The MSP personnel assigned to work in Flint are as much a “local officer” as those employed by either the county or city. State Police troopers live and work in the area they serve,” Bolger said.
“The state funds state troopers, Bolger said. “The state provided money to open the City Lock-up. Only the Sheriff can speak to whether he hired local people to staff the Lock-up,” Bolger continued.
Fourth-ward councilman, Josh Freeman, said, “State law does not allow a local unit to require residency in that community as a condition of employment. While it would be nice to have these folks living in our community, I am thankful for whatever help we can get in fighting this crime epidemic that we are facing. I don’t care where they are from, as long as we can get some officers on the streets,” Freeman added.
Bolger went on to say that in a 92-day time period ending Dec. 2012 Flint and State Police made 1102 arrests and 13 percent of those arrests were for violent crime.
Bolger said that there were 1512 outstanding warrants and 18% of them were for violent crimes. According to Bolger, there are over 48,000 arrest warrants originating out of the three courts in Genesee County. He said this stems from decades of powerlessness of police officers to enforce the law by arresting people and lodging them in the jail for violations of law. This is not due to failure of police to find people with warrants, it is due to therebeing no ability to lodge people in jail once arrested on most warrants.
The good news is now, with the opening of the Lock-up, FPD and MSP made over 1,000 arrests in 3 months, satisfying over 1,500 warrants.
“This is a good start,” Bolger said. “But in order for there to be significant headway in the reduction of outstanding warrants, all police officers in the county need to be able to lodge offenders who are found with warrants out for their arrest.
Bolger went on to provide information drawing a bigger picture of what MSP working along with FPD looks like in Flint.
He was adamant saying, “MSP is not in Flint to write tickets. In fact, MSP personnel arrested more felons in 2012 than the number of tickets written.” The following are statistics for 2012 for the FPD & MSP:
299 hazardous citations written (tickets)
227 arrests for weapons-related charges and 452 drug arrests
111 firearms seized
395 felons arrested on 686 criminal counts
606 misdemeanants arrested on 702 criminal counts
1,447 fugitives arrested satisfying 3,438 outstanding arrest warrants
Bolger said that his department looked into the criminal histories of several people post-arrest and found that these individuals often have lengthy criminal histories involving assault, weapons related charges, robbery, and other felonies. Generally, these are not instances where this is the individual’s first contact with the police.
In addition to the uniform troopers working in Flint, MSP has eight detectives working in FPD partnered with FPD detectives: the Major Case Detective Bureau (MCDB). This effort began in July 2012. Also, MSP has one criminal intelligence analyst assigned to and working in FPD to assist MSP and FPD efforts in the City.
MSP operates a multi-jurisdictional task force (Flint Area Narcotics Group–FANG) in Genesee County, including the city of Flint. This task force conducts investigations independently and in cooperation with MSP and FPD in the city. MSP also has personnel assigned to the FBI task force in Flint.
Captain Richard Arnold, District Commander, in Lansing spoke at the ESBA meeting on Feb. 27 saying the Michigan State Police are committed to making Flint a safer place. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 5:24 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Kate Cole is a former writer for the East Village News magazine. Both she and Chris Zuwala are members of the Flint Neighborhoods United, a group launched by Michigan State University, the Michigan State Police and Tonya Meeks of the Flint Police.
Flint Our Community Our Voice (FOCOV) is a "community newsletter" with Salem Housing as a fiduciary. Their staff includes:
Pete Drummond
Bill Hammond
Tanya Meeks
Jane Richardson
Raynetta Speed
Charles Winfrey
Kate Cole
Chevon Wilborn |
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Sat May 11, 2013 5:31 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Matt Bolger is the Commander of the Flint State Police Post on Corunna Road, and is a law school graduate. His father also was a Michigan State Trooper.
Matt is the brother of Jase Bolger, a State Representative of the 63rd District since 2008. Jase is serving his third term as a representative and his second term as Speaker of the Michigan House. jase Bolger owns a repossession company and a company that provides computer and phone support to Fortune 100 companies across the nation.
Jase Bolger is currently under an active Grand Jury Investigation for election fraud although a Michigan State Police investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 5:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Should a police force resemble the population with which they are charged with serving? This was an issue in the Civil Rights era and is an issue today.
Many of us older generation remember the racial tensions in the Flint Police Department's stormy integration and the Madeline Fletcher case that rocked the city. A white male officer and a black female officer shooting it out in the police parking lot as a result of an argument over who would drive. Then as the ambulance carrying Fletcher drove in circles, white officers using the airway to state the ambulance should drive around until the .. dies. The NAACP has been involved in taking excessive force allegations to the attention of the Department of Justice.
Sheriff Pickell remembers the 196o's racial tensions because he was an officer during that time. Thus the issue of "racial factors' in the hiring process is a part of the controversy between local police agencies and the Michigan State Police. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 5:52 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The origin of the article is based on a talk that Sheriff Pickell gave on February 13 to the East Side business Association. To me Pickell addressed two issues:
1) Racial issues did not appear to b considered in the process of assigning officers to Flint,
2) State Police are replacing Flint Police and many new state troopers lack an urban experience.
I was at a meeting where Don Lada, a sponsor of the East Side Business Association, expressed contempt for Sheriff Pickell and his proposal for a multijurisdictional task force. Lada once operated the Brown Funeral Home on Davison Road. However that business has been long closed and the building now houses a new venture.
Following the business association meeting, Cole and/or Zuwala interviewed MSP commander Matt Bolger. Bolger has been critical of Pickell and local police agencies in the past. Bolger was quoted as saying " The Michigan State Police (MSP) cannot assign people to work certain assignments based on race. This would be a violation of that individual's civil rights and a violation of the Elliot Larson Civil Rights Act, let alone the U.S. Constitution."
In my opinion that is just a bunch of poppycock! many old timers remember the stringent hiring practices of the Flint Police that effectively kept minority officers from being hired. The courts ruled that the hiring practices were discriminatory and made them be changed.
The State Police brag that their recruitment process has an emphasis on selecting military veterans and certified officers that are without employment. In my opinion this raises the issue of whether the State Police committed to diversity in the hiring process. I wonder if they have developed an exclusionary process that creates a predominately white candidate pool. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 6:26 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sat May 11, 2013 6:38 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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By Paul Egan
Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
LANSING — On Dec. 17, 2010, Michigan State Police Troopers Darziel Hall and Lamarr Johnson were presented certificates at a public ceremony for “successfully completing” the department’s firearms examiner training.
Two months later, both were removed from the program for poor performance in the course.
Hall and Johnson are black. Both scored better than white applicants who, rather than being removed from the program, were promoted to sergeant as firearms examiners, records show.
The two troopers are now suing the department for racial discrimination in Wayne County Circuit Court, each seeking more than $1 million in damages.
“This case is an all-too-familiar reminder that bias is alive and well in the personnel decision making ... of our law enforcement agencies,” said Leonard Mungo, the Detroit attorney representing the troopers
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State Police denies the allegations.
The department said in a court filing that the documents presented to Hall and Johnson certified successful completion of only part of the required training. The troopers were removed from the program because they received negative evaluations after performing poorly in a mock courtroom session, Assistant Attorney General Jeanmarie Miller said in a Feb. 5 motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
“Race was not a factor in the decision to remove plaintiffs from the training program,” Miller said in the court filing, which noted that one black trooper who completed the program was promoted to firearm examiner.
On April 17, Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry denied the state’s motion to dismiss, and the case could be headed to trial.
John Collins, who was head of forensic sciences for the State Police when the course was conducted, testified in a deposition that receiving the certificates “suggest(s) very strongly” that Hall and Johnson successfully completed the training.
But completion of the training, conducted by an outside contractor, was separate from any employment decisions such as promotions and appointment of firearms examiners, which was solely up to the State Police, Miller said in a court filing.
The mock court session was completed Dec. 15 — two days before Hall and Johnson received their certificates — Mungo said in a court filing.
State Police Lt. Robert Topp, a defendant in the lawsuit, testified in a deposition that there was no score sheet or evaluation form for the moot court sessions, and no written standards for required performance.
For parts of the course that involved scoring based on a final exam and marks awarded in areas such as evidence handling, firearm examining and bullet comparison, Johnson received an overall score of 182, which was better than two white applicants, and Hall received a score of 180, which was better than one white applicant, records show.
Only Hall and Johnson were removed from the program.
Both troopers said in affidavits that firearms training conducted by a contractor was in “an environment peppered with racially offensive conduct.” Attendees were told to shoot at cans and the trainer said they were shooting at “African AmeriCANS, MexiCANS and Puerto RiCANS,” the troopers testified.
Miller argued the person who allegedly made the remarks was not a State Police employee and had no role in deciding how the troopers were evaluated or whether they would successfully complete the program.
Capt. Gregoire Michaud, who heads the department’s biometrics and identification division and is not a defendant, testified he didn’t recall any other troopers being removed from the program in about the last 20 years. Michaud testified that of about 250 employees in the State Police’s forensic science division, only about five are black.
About five or six applicants total were expected for the firearm examiner program, but 11 came forward, he testified in a deposition.
“What happened was that someone shook the trees and says you want to escape the road, forensic science division has to take you, no questions,” Michaud testified.
Mungo said he believes the “shook the trees” reference is racial because black people are sometimes derogatorily referred to as to monkeys, who live in trees.
Shanon Banner, a State Police spokeswoman, would not comment on Mungo’s interpretation of Michaud’s statement, citing the ongoing litigation. Joy Yearout, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, also declined to comment.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 |
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Sat May 11, 2013 6:44 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I looked at the data from the 13rd and the 124th graduating classes for the State Police. There was a photo for the 123rd class and although it was small, it appeared there was about 2 minorities in a class of 78 recruits who completed training.
Flint is the 3rd District and the new troopers were:
Sean Thomas of Hartland
Thomas Salcido of Bad Axe
Dustin Hurt of Milliken
Anthony Easlick of North Branch
Michael O'Donnell of Royal Oak
New Troopers for Lapeer were:
Bryan Cairnduff of Buffalo, Nwy York
Brandon Rutt of Fowlerville
In the 124th recruiting class of 90 troopers, those assigned to Flint were:
Adam Diroff of Allen Park
Jaime Durand of White Lake
Brian Kross of Lake Orion
Don Nease of Bay City
Timothy Roberts of Charlotte
Joe Tibbets of Saginaw
Justin Vroman of Port Huron
Taizza Williams of Sterling Heights
These new reruits were replacements for more experienced troopers who were assigned to a special Flint detail. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 6:57 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In the article Bolger was quoted as saying "State Police live and work in the area they serve." He also stated there had been six (6) Lapeer Post troopers assigned to Flint for over a year. The issue of residency requirements for Flint Police has been brought up many times but the courts struck down such requirements and Flint Police can live within 20 miles of the city limits. Bolger apparently was not asked about residency requirements for the State Police.
Bolger was also quoted in the article that the state Police were not in town to write tickets. But they also do not answer Flint 911 calls and many Flint Police write on M-live that the state troopers "cherry pick" the calls they help respond to. While they may not write tickets, they are doing directed patrols in areas where a simple traffic stop can yield individuals with warrants and or weapons. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 7:07 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint was the birthplace of community policing and now Flint police community policing is basically defunct.
So now we have the State Police bringing in their community officers from all over the state to make a "blitzkrieg" move on the Flint schools. How successful will this be? Only time will tell. Personally, I don't believe a one-time effort will encourage our children to think kindly of the State Police. There are too many social and economic inequities in the city for this "Band-Aid" approach to make an impact.
Pickell's comments on a racial mix demonstrates to me that he understands the racial politics of Flint. Michigan State Troopers have been unable to make inroads into the gang violence of the east side. As for the north end the racial climateis even worse. |
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Sat May 11, 2013 7:19 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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There are approximately 10 officers per 12 hour shift. In the past they started their shift with a 30 or more call backlog but that is now greatly reduced. remember the State Police do not answer 911 calls. A shooting, stabbing or other serious event will tie up a significant number of officers at a time as they must control the crime scene, gather evidence and interview witnesses, etc.
The State Police have been frantically reporting their crime stats. And with all of their reported arrests, they still had to open the jail to other communities because it was barely being used. The city jail is a lock up and can be used for a 72 hour arrest. They must then be either housed in the county jail or be released again on bond, tether or other means after facing the judge.
Where are the disposition stats?
The Flint Police are also making significant numbers of arrests. But when the public safety millage passed, there was a prediction of further layoffs next year. Who will answer 911 calls then? How many officers have really been hired wit the millage and how many new hires were to replace officers retiring?
What is the impact on the pensions of the officers who will retire in the future. Retirement is based on their salaries which have been cut. New hires only get a 401 type retirement. Flint fire and police personnel do not get social security pensions, only their city pensions. No wonder they all try to have 2 jobs and retire to get a new job. |
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Sun May 12, 2013 6:17 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In my opinion the two authors never answered their own question and they never intended for this piece to be an unbiased look at the issues surrounding Flint crime.
They took a small "sound bite" from Pickell and ran to suck up to the State Police. They never even looked at the role of the Flint Police, who are really the front line of the daily crime war in Flint. When Flint had their CATT team and other specialized units, they were very effective.
The State police have admitted they cannot gain the trust of the community and have not even penetrated the secrecy shrouding gang activity on the east side.
Flint Neighborhoods United has accomplished very little in the last year. They have a logo. Old members leave and new members come and go. But the same old people dominate the meetings, treating members at times like children and rehashing the same old stuff again and again. For groups that are used to accomplishing things, this is an annoyance.
The Flint law department is finally looking at ordinances to deal with signs and loitering around party stores. But Baltimore and other communities have already fought that battle and there ordinances survived lengthy court battles. The major beer and wine distributors pay stores to place these banners and signs on their walls outside. It was the major beer companies that brought the court battles on communities trying to limit these signs. The key was the impact on children passing these stores going to school and the messages they were being sent.
Flint once passed an ordinance prohibiting the excessive signage on windows. Stores simply got rid of the windows and kept on posting the signs. |
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Sun May 12, 2013 6:37 am |
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