Ypsilanti police chief reports staffing gaps, rises in larceny and OWI arrests

Chief Anderson, the Ypsilanti Police Department chief, told the Ypsilanti Police Advisory Commission on Sept. 25 that the department continues to operate with several vacancies and saw increases last month in larceny, fraud and operating-while-intoxicated arrests.

"We have nine department vacancies," Chief Anderson said, adding that an offer was sent within 24 hours to a recruit who will attend the police academy in October. "That will leave us roughly with eight vacancies." He said four candidates are undergoing background investigations but likely will not be ready for the October academy.

Anderson said five officers are currently in field training at various stages, and that two officers hired earlier in September began two weeks ago. He also said the department now has a detective assigned to follow-up work, which increased investigative activity numbers.

The chief flagged a persistent rise in larceny offenses—ranging from package thefts and vehicle thefts to burglaries—and a notable increase in frauds, especially scams targeting older residents. "We have experienced a lot of frauds over the last six months, especially with some of our elder population," Anderson said.

Anderson told commissioners that OWI arrests also rose: the department had six OWI arrests in August this year versus one in August last year. When asked whether that increase reflected having more officers on the street, Anderson said he could not "get that granular with all of the data," and noted that some OWI incidents followed crashes into buildings rather than ordinary traffic stops. "As we get more officers, increased traffic stops will occur, which gives you a greater opportunity to encounter OWIs, but these are not solely that," he said.

Commissioners asked whether people with prior convictions are eligible to apply to the department. "It depends on what exactly that conviction was for," Anderson said, describing eligibility as case-by-case.

Commissioner Wolkoff raised whether the detective assigned to follow-up work received extra compensation for the added duties. Anderson said he was "working diligently to address that" but indicated the commission meeting was not the forum to finalize pay adjustments. He noted collective bargaining implications: raising pay for one person can trigger across-the-board changes under existing agreements.

The chief also reported community engagement activities in August, including National Night Out and a back-to-school backpack giveaway. He said there were no uses-of-force reports that month and that three citizen complaints investigated so far this year were not sustained.

The commission did not take formal action on the report; the presentation was delivered as the department's regular monthly update.

The commission’s monthly roster and public-safety announcements later in the meeting also mentioned local outreach and a call for applicants for a vacant Ward 3 commission seat.