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Council questions 2024 Neighborhood Safety Officer report, asks for ward-level data and ordinance references
Summary
Council and police discussed the 2024 NSO report; members asked for a ward-by-ward breakdown, ordinance citations, cleanup rates and financial tracking. Chief Green said the NSO unit ran understaffed (three vacancies) in 2024 and focused on the most egregious complaints.
Flint — Council members pressed the Flint Police Department to provide more detailed, ward-level information after a 20-minute discussion of the 2024 Neighborhood Safety Officer (NSO) report.
Councilmembers said the one-page report is difficult to use for neighborhood oversight and asked for a breakdown by ward, the specific ordinances cited for each violation type, counts of how many issued violations were cleaned up, and revenue/fine tracking for citations that carry monetary penalties.
“...it would have been helpful for me is to also have these by ward so that I know what’s happening in my ward,” the Councilwoman from the 4th Ward said during the discussion. The councilwoman asked whether a listed item such as “improperly stored solid waste containers” reflected a single address or multiple tickets; Chief Green acknowledged the report’s format makes that unclear and offered to provide ward-level detail on request.
Chief Green said the NSO program operated in 2024 with three vacancies and with officers sometimes out on leave, and that staff were instructed to concentrate enforcement on “egregious violations” reported by citizens and council members — for example large accumulations of trash, vehicles parked in yards, and other safety issues. “That’s why you see these numbers reflect those type of violations,” Chief Green said.
Council members asked for additional clarifications and materials: the ordinance citations for enforcement categories (for instance snow and ice on public sidewalks), the number of cases that led to compliance versus those that escalated to fines or Blight Court, and whether the city can track issued fines and collections. Councilman in the 8th Ward specifically asked for counts of violations that were issued and subsequently cleared; Chief Green said the department would examine the “process” for citations and provide that information.
Council members also requested a contact list of NSOs by ward and their email addresses; Chief Green agreed to provide it but requested that council members CC him so complaints can be tracked through the command structure. The body voted to extend the NSO discussion by an additional 10 minutes (motion approved by roll call), and the chair said staff would compile the council’s requests and distribute them via the clerk.
No ordinance changes or enforcement policy changes were adopted at the meeting. The exchange concluded with a pledge from administration to return data requested by council: ward breakdowns, ordinance references, cleanup/closure counts, fine tracking, and repeat-offender procedures.
