police
City, GRPD must seek independent investigations into police call recordings to rebuild public trust, transparency
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 09-15-2017 under OPINION
Yesterday, after months of fighting in court, the City was forced to release 5 recorded phone conversations between Officer’s Adam Ickes, Thomas Warwick, and the now fired Lt. Michael Janiskee. These conversations were related to a November...
City introduces newly hired consultants from 21st Century Policing Solutions
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 08-21-2017 under NEWS
“We know the truth may hurt, but selective ignorance is fatal.” This a phrase Ronald Davis admits he’s fond of saying. And during the City’s press conference this past Thursday, August 17, 2017, to introduce Mr. Davis and the...
City Commission passes resolutions regarding community, police relations
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 07-27-2017 under NEWS
Summer can mean vacations and family time for many of us. This tends to have an effect on the turnout at the City Commission meetings. That was clearly the case Tuesday as citizen attendance was down compared to the last few months. However that...
#GRTalksBack on policing: meetings use small-group format
by (arcarpenter)
Submitted 06-13-2017 under NEWS
On Monday June 12 at 12 p.m., the first of a series of Community Listening meetings on policing, hosted by the City Commission, took place at the Michigan First Credit Union on Breton and Burton. Attendees were directed to the basement room and...
Citizens' concerns remain over housing crisis, racial disparities at commission meeting
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 06-08-2017 under NEWS
For 2017, the City of Grand Rapids planned three Commission meetings to be held out in the community rather than the usual commission chambers housed on the ninth floor of city hall. Tuesday marked the second of these neighborhood hosted meetings...
Recent police actions prompt citizens to press City officials to declare 'state of emergency'
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 05-10-2017 under NEWS
During the final public comment period of Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting, forty people stood and spoke in solidarity about the need to declare a “state of emergency” around the racialized outcomes and systemic inequities...
Black motorists twice as likely to be pulled over, searched by Grand Rapids police
by (Russell Olmsted)
Submitted 04-20-2017 under NEWS
According to the City’s Traffic Stop Data Analysis study, Black drivers in the city of Grand Rapids are twice as likely to be pulled over by police as white drivers. The discussion of these results and the study's recommendations brought...
Outcry over police stop, housing funds packs City Commission
by (Elizabeth Roger...)
Submitted 04-12-2017 under NEWS
On Tuesday, April 11, 2017, the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting at 7 p.m. was packed to overflowing with people sitting in the aisles, standing in the corners and spilling out into the hallway. Concerns over cuts to housing funding and a recent...
Mothers of boys stopped at gunpoint by police, 'trying to make change'
by (arcarpenter)
Submitted 04-06-2017 under NEWS
It’s been over a week since five African-American boys, age 12 to 14 years, were stopped at gunpoint by a police officer as they walked home from playing basketball at the Kroc Center on Division in Grand Rapids. IKeshia Quinn, a mother of two...
When grown men point loaded weapons at 12-year-old boys, none of us should sleep well at night
by (arcarpenter)
Submitted 03-29-2017 under OPINION
Last night, I couldn't sleep. It was 2 a.m., but my mind was still at the City Commission meeting, where three mothers told the story of their sons - 12 to 14 years in age - being stopped at gunpoint by police. (Their comments are at about 31:...