Dante Goss — the previous attorney provided to this board by the city’s law department — has taken a job elsewhere. Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett announced that until a permanent replacement is found, he will be personally stepping in as interim board attorney.
Hello #Detroit !
I will be live reporting the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners today at 3pm for #DetroitDocumenters
12:52 PM Jun 5, 2025 CDT
Meeting was called to order in the assets of a quorum, so they’re going straight to the invocation and then directly to public comment
First commenter said their siblings are a murdering crime ring who killed her father. She was referred to DPD
Second relative of the same person saying that they can’t get any interaction from the Chief Investigator.
It’s a wild story, but that shouldn’t distract from a very common issue they’re having: no response from the department and getting shuffled around
They now have a quorum. I’d include the roll but the mic is having issues and I can’t hear the names
Moving on to the Chief of Police report. Bettison is present today
Homicides down 17% for the year, non-fatal shootings are down 39%.
Chief Bettison mentioned Operation Purple Rain (that’s really the name) which is a big sweep of the city for outstanding warrants
Chief Bettison is talking about the department’s developing efforts to meditate disputes between citizens and officers
Now Chief Bettison is bringing up an offer for promotion
Minister Eric Blount accused the attorney for the Board of a conflict of interest and sharply criticized Operation Purple Rain as a waste of resources and a misappropriation of funds and efforts.
Former Comm’r William Davis called over Zoom and complained about the continuing problem of people running red lights, especially outside richer districts like Midtown
Next caller called with issues with the eminent domain seizures of property for the solar farm project, and further complained about a lack of mental health response rather than police response
Next caller voices objections to the legalization of marijuana and people vaping on public transport
Last caller urged the Board to appoint a lawyer for itself, as the city charter employers them to do.
The board voted unanimously to hire two administrative assistants for the department
In New Business, the board brought up a resolution opposing the current White House administration’s incursion into the city with federal agents, and particularly the agents not adhering to standard policing procedures like bodycams and identifying themselves to those they interact with
In the middle of the resolution being read out, the board lost their quorum and had to pause until the next opportunity
Well folks, this closes my coverage of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting for June 5th. Learn more about our coverage of local meetings at https://documenters.org
‼️IMPORTANT: If you believe anything in the coverage today is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line