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.
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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.
Federal immigration agents have been involved in at least 30 shootings since President Trump returned to office — eight of them fatal. In almost every case, the administration declared the agents’ actions justified before any investigation was complete.
Two of those killings happened in Minneapolis within three weeks of each other: Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24. Both were U.S. citizens, age 37, and in both cases, masked federal officers opened fire, and the Trump administration’s initial accounts were later contradicted by video evidence.
Their deaths spurred protests across the country and accelerated a growing push by local and state governments to impose limits on federal immigration agents.
In Detroit, City Council member Mary Waters has introduced the Alex Pretti Detroit No Masks Ordinance, which would prohibit any law enforcement officer — local, state, or federal — from concealing their face while performing their duties in the city. The proposal has been referred to committee but has not yet received a vote.
At the state level, the Michigan Senate held hearings last month on a package of bills aimed at how federal immigration enforcement operates in the state. They would ban law enforcement masks, bar ICE from operating in schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, and prevent state agencies from sharing data with federal immigration authorities.
Former Detroit Police Chief Isaiah “Ike” McKinnon was among those who testified in support of the bills.
McKinnon joined the Detroit Police Department in 1965. Two years later, during the 1967 Detroit uprising, fellow white officers pulled him over while he was in full uniform, put a gun to his head, and shot at him. During that same period, officers across the department were removing their badges to avoid being identified. McKinnon survived — and stayed on the force. In 1993, Mayor Dennis Archer appointed him Detroit’s second Black police chief. Over five years, he overhauled the department’s approach to community trust.
Now 82, McKinnon told Michigan senators he sees the same pattern repeating: officers who conceal their identities operate without accountability.
He spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about how local police should respond to this moment.
Use the media player above to hear the conversation.
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The post The Metro: A former Detroit police chief spent his career building trust. He says ICE is dismantling it appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
While President Trump was inside Motor City Casino on Tuesday, protesters outside were braving the elements and aggression by the Detroit Police Department.
A group of demonstrators marched from Cass Park in front of the Masonic Temple and to the sidewalk in front of the casino at the corner of Temple and Grand River Avenue.
After being allowed to peacefully assemble for a few minutes, Detroit Police forced protesters down Grand River to a less visible location on the casino’s west side at Trumbull Ave and Elm Street.
A Detroit Police officer – who would not give his name, only the numbers 168 – threatened protesters and members of the press with arrest if they did not move. At least two protesters were arrested.
Sarah Reed of Farmington Hills carried an inverted American flag – a symbol of distress. She stood in front of the advancing officers in an act of defiance.
Reed was surprised by their aggression. “It’s a public sidewalk, and if you and I were there this evening, this morning, before any of this, they’d have no issue with us being on the sidewalk,” Reed said.
Reed, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, said she wants the president to resign. But she had a message for Democrats too. “Get off your asses and fight,” Reed said.
Troy resident Jake Malacos used his lunch hour to protest. He says he was happy to be around protesters because a show of solidarity is good for the community.
As for why he was picketing: “Well, the corruption from the Trump administration. The brutality. The murder of Renee Good. Most of the policies that he’s putting out are pretty rough for me,” Malacos said.
Once DPD had pushed the protesters to the designated 1st Amendment area on Trumbull, about 1,000 protesters marched to Detroit Public Safety.
Officially, Detroit Police do not work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but they do share office space.
The post Police redirect protesters during presidential visit to Detroit appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
When the police make a mistake, who is around to hold them accountable? Sometimes it’s courts and attorneys.
But in many American cities, including those here in Michigan, there are civilian oversight boards. These boards do various things, including investigating civilian complaints, making disciplinary recommendations, and auditing police departments.
The Detroit Board of Police of Commissioners was established in the 1970s after widespread claims of police abuse. Today, after the murder of George Floyd and increased scrutiny of police, more pressure is on police commissioners to hold officers accountable and to make policing work for everyone.
Just before the new year, Detroit welcomed four new people to its Board of Police Commissioners, including Victoria Camille. She is the District 7 commissioner.
Why did she run for the position? How can policing improve in Detroit? And, what does she make of the role of policing in society?
Commissioner Camille joined Cary Junior II on The Metro to discuss.
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The post The Metro: What role police should play, according to new Detroit police commissioner appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
A coalition of Detroit activists is denouncing a proposed city ordinance that would require some police footage to be made public, saying the measure would still protect officers who engage in misconduct.
The post Critics blast Detroit police video ordinance as weak and full of exemptions appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
A state appeals court handed a partial victory to critics of Detroit’s controversial ShotSpotter surveillance system, ruling that city officials violated a transparency ordinance when they approved contracts for the gunshot detection technology without properly notifying the public. In a published decision released Thursday, a divided Michigan Court of Appeals panel found that the Detroit […]
The post Court of Appeals sides with ShotSpotter critics in Detroit, finding city ‘repeatedly’ violated transparency law appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
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