Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said Friday he will no longer seek to fire two cops who called U.S. Border Patrol during separate traffic stops, supporting instead a 30-day unpaid suspension imposed by the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners.
The post Detroit police chief backs down from firing cops who called Border Patrol appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
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.
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The post The Metro: Detroit police chief said the line was clear. His officers crossed it anyway appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
What does it feel like when a city has its breath taken away—not just by frigid weather, but by sudden shocking violence that cuts into the lives of neighbors and friends?
In Minneapolis, there is a texture to the streets that doesn’t show up in social media clips. Day after day, in bitter cold, people have come together protesting, marching, and organizing neighborhood watches. Their gatherings have been sparked by a wave of federal immigration enforcement in the city and by two fatal shootings.
On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a Minneapolis resident. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. Video evidence has raised serious questions about whether the force used was justified.
Then, on Jan. 24, Border Patrol agents killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti. Federal officials initially claimed Pretti violently resisted and brandished a gun. But video footage, eyewitnesses, and independent reporting refute those claims. The discrepancy between the official account and the evidence has become a flashpoint for protests and calls for accountability.
In recent weeks, journalist Hamilton Nolan has been on the ground in Minneapolis, walking with people in the cold, listening to residents, and trying to make sense of what “resistance” looks like right now. He’s written about what he’s seen and heard in his Substack newsletter How Things Work.
He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss what he saw on the ground and what Detroit can learn from Minneapolis.
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.
The post The Metro: A reporter’s view from Minneapolis with lessons for Detroit appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
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