Detroit’s police department has been collecting wins. Homicides in 2025 hit their lowest point since 1965. Carjackings dropped by nearly half. 

But over the past two weeks, another picture has emerged from inside the department’s own forensic operation.

At recent Board of Police Commissioners meetings, former forensic technicians came forward to describe conditions within the Crime Scene Services unit. What they described raises questions about safety, evidence handling, and whether the integrity of criminal cases has been compromised.

A state workplace safety agency has already cited the unit. A resident has sent those findings to city councilmembers, police commissioners, and the Wayne County Prosecutor. And a commissioner who tried to visit the facility says she had to wait two weeks — and was still unsatisfied with what she saw.

Outlier Media’s March 31 newsletter first reported on these complaints. 

Noah Kincade coordinates the Detroit Documenters program at Outlier Media. He joined Robyn Vincent to discuss conditions inside the Detroit Police Department’s Crime Scene Services unit and the response from community members and stakeholders.

Editor’s Note: The Detroit Police Department is pursuing accreditation from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. The broadcast version of this story said the accreditation was national.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield is prioritizing anti-poverty measures in her 814-page proposed budget. 

The budget comes as more than a third of Detroit residents experienced poverty in 2024, the highest rate the city has seen since 2017. More than half of Detroit’s children are living in poverty, and the poverty rate among seniors reached its highest point in a decade.

Sheffield’s budget responds with new spending on multiple fronts. It promises free year-round bus rides for kids to reduce chronic absenteeism, higher pay for bus drivers, and a new office for senior affairs, with a $750,000 food access program for older Detroiters. It includes $2.2 million for after-school programs, a $500,000 increase to the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer jobs program, and a new $40 million Human, Homeless and Family Services Department. It also expands the city’s affordable housing fund, and provides a living wage for city workers.

But the city has 34 million fewer dollars than it did last year. So what makes it in, and what gets cut?

Detroit Documenters are sitting in on all 47 budget hearings alongside reporters at Outlier Media and Bridge Detroit.

Noah Kincade, coordinator of the Detroit Documenters program at Outlier Media, joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

Editor’s note: The Public Lighting Authority director who used ChatGPT to respond to councilmembers’ budget questions is Beau Taylor. The broadcast version of this story misidentified him.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

Communities across Michigan are asking how, exactly, local law enforcement is working with federal immigration agents as the Trump administration steps up aggressive enforcement, including the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis. In Detroit, that question is playing out on the pages of two police personnel files. 

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison vowed to fire two officers who broke department rules by calling U.S. Border Patrol during traffic stops, handing people over to federal immigration agents. Then he dropped the terminations.

In one stop, an officer called Border Patrol, believing the person was undocumented. In the other, a sergeant called for help communicating with a driver who didn’t speak English, though the department runs a 24-hour translation hotline.

DPD policy — stemming from a 2007 anti-profiling ordinance and a 2020 internal directive — bars officers from contacting Border Patrol, ICE, or any federal agency for translation or immigration enforcement. 

Outlier Media’s public records requests turned up at least two more incidents the chief did not disclose.

Ahead of the Board of Police Commissioners’ vote on the suspensions, The Metro’s Robyn Vincent spoke with Noah Kincade, who runs the Documenters program at Outlier Media. 

The Detroit Documenters helped surface these cases at police commission meetings. 

ICE and CBP did not respond to WDET’s requests for comment about this story.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Editor’s Note: After this interview aired, the Board of Police Commissioners voted 10–0 to suspend both officers without pay for 30 days. Bettison, who said he would terminate them, backed off the next morning. His reversal comes after one officer sued in federal court, claiming her lieutenant ordered the call, and Michigan Republican House Speaker Matt Hall threatened to review Detroit’s state funding in response to the case.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is offering stipends for interns enrolled in a behavioral health bachelor or master’s program. MDHHS is allocating $1.25 million for the program.  

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel says the funding supports mental health care workers. The Behavioral Health Internship Stipend Program is in its fourth cohort, which supported 159 students last year. The program offers money to students for unpaid internship costs such as tuition, fees, and living expenses. 

Students pursuing degrees in marriage or family therapy, behavioral analyst,  social workers and counselors are eligible to apply for the one-time stipend ranging from $5 to $15,000 each.

Applications close tonight.

Additional headlines for Monday, Jan. 26, 2026

Radon Action Month

January is Radon Action Month. Radon is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless radioactive gas that’s found in soil. It’s naturally created through the breakdown of uranium in soil around homes.

The gas can cause lung tissue damage through radiation, making it the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. 

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy recommends testing homes every two years for exposure. People can pick up a testing kit from their local health department.    

Al-Ikhlas Director Nadir Ahmad passes away 

Detroit’s Al-Ikhlas Training Academy’s Director and Founder, Imam Nadir Ahmad passed away on Jan. 22. His funeral was held on Saturday.

In 2020, the Dream Storytelling oral history project interviewed Ahmad. He told the archive he moved from Virginia to Detroit to study Islam at the Wayne County Community College as part of the Muslim World Studies Program in 1980.  Ahmad taught at the Clara Muhammad School in Detroit, later serving as assistant principal and then principal. Ahmad founded the Islamic school Al-Ikhlas Training Academy in Detroit in 1991.

Community members and current and former students posted several comments on Facebook, sharing memories and commemorating the educational leader as someone who defined an era in Detroit. Ahmad was also a U.S. military veteran.  

ProsperUs Detroit hosts training program

ProsperUs Detroit is hosting an Entrepreneur Training Program for the Spring of 2026. The 12-week program provides one-on-one support for businesses to learn how to register their business, create budgets and systems for bookkeeping. The group will also learn how to write a business plan.

Participants will also study business models, target markets, and finances. Applications are due by Feb. 1. 

Outlier and Detroit-ography host trivia

The Outlier Collective is hosting a trivia event next month. Test your knowledge of Detroit with Outlier Media’s Civic Life Reporter Briana Rice and Detroit-ography’s Alex B. Hill.

Editor’s note: Corrected Al-Ikhals Director Nadir Ahmad’s title, from Dr. to Imam 1/27/26. We apologize for the error.

Tickets are $5 a person. The event is being hosted by Outlier Media and Detroit-ography at the Brewery Faisan on Feb. 4 from 6:30-9 p.m. Register at outliermedia.org/our-events/.   

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.