Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oversight commissioner tells East Lansing council not to curtail police-oversight powers
Summary
A member of the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission urged the City Council to preserve the commission's ability to pursue transparency and accountability after recent negotiations that the commenter said reduced the commission's authority; a council member said legal advice guided the changes.
Robert Etcheson, who identified himself as a commissioner with the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission but spoke as an individual, told the City Council on June 3 that he was concerned the council is negotiating away the commission’s authority to pursue transparency and accountability.
“If the city council is no longer supportive of this commission, then it should display the courage to dissolve it,” Etcheson said, adding that the commission’s “primary function…is transparency and accountability.” He said he was not speaking for the commission that night and asked a council liaison — referencing “Mark” — to explain what the council sees as problematic about the commission’s work.
Etcheson said a recently hired police chief had characterized members of the commission as “police haters,” a comment Etcheson described as disrespectful and insulting. “I find it insulting, disrespectful, and a challenge to my integrity,” he said, noting family members who are or were police officers. Etcheson said the commission had never sought to discipline officers and warned that removing oversight and transparency could expose the city to litigation arising from questionable police conduct.
Council Member Watson replied that she attended a recent oversight-commission meeting and that the changes now being implemented followed legal advice given during labor negotiations. “The legal advice was to follow the directive of the labor attorney in her negotiations,” Watson said, and she expressed a desire to “tidy up” relations as the city moves forward with a new police chief and a new prosecuting attorney.
Etcheson concluded by urging the council to preserve oversight structures. “Transparency and accountability of East Lansing Police Department are beneficial to the city of East Lansing, all of its citizens, visitors, and also to the East Lansing Police Department itself,” he said. The council did not take a formal vote on oversight authority at the June 3 meeting; the remarks were made during public comment.
