Resident alleges CJIS violation by police chief, urges commission to direct investigation

At the June 3 meeting a resident, Ellen Smith, accused the Battle Creek police chief of violating Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) policy by releasing protected law‑enforcement information through the Signal app and asked the City Commission to direct an investigation.

Smith said the chief acknowledged the release at a prior meeting and that she had reported the matter to the FBI. She told commissioners she had also contacted each of them by email and sometimes by phone and criticized a lack of response. "No discipline, no investigation, no accountability," she said, attributing those words to the absence of city action following the alleged admission.

Smith also accused the city attorney of defying a commission directive. She said the commission previously voted (Resolution 132) to reverse a FOIA denial and that the city attorney has not complied with that directive to release the requested document. Smith asked the commission to direct the city manager to investigate the police chief and city attorney and to hold city leaders accountable.

Smith referenced federal CJIS safeguards and two Battle Creek Police Department policy numbers she said describe proper handling of law‑enforcement data; she provided copies of the department policies to commissioners during the meeting. No city action or vote was recorded in response to her request during the meeting.

The claims are presented here as allegations made during public comment. The commission record from this meeting shows Smith made the allegations publicly and requested an investigation; it does not record any formal commission directive or disciplinary action on this topic.