YIPAC hears Ypsilanti police monthly report as aggravated assaults rise and staffing gaps persist

YIPAC members on Oct. 23 received the Ypsilanti Police Department—s monthly statistics and personnel update from Lieutenant Wiss. The presentation noted one use-of-force incident, three citizen complaints (one sustained and two under review), one vehicle pursuit, and a range of crime trends compared with the same period last year.

Lieutenant Wiss said the department recently sent the entire force through a mental-health training delivered by an outside provider (referred to in the meeting as Dewind/CIT-style training). "So self care wasn't usually a thing in the past. It used to just be get back in there, but now they're they're looking at it as a different aspect where we don't take care of ourselves. How are we gonna take care of our community?" Wiss said, describing the training as covering self-care steps and techniques to help others.

On crime counts, Wiss reported that aggravated assaults rose from four last year to 12 this year; burglaries fell from 11 to 4; larcenies increased; motor vehicle theft decreased; damaged-property reports dropped from 29 to 20; weapons offenses increased; resist-and-obstruct (R&O) incidents decreased from six to four; and juvenile complaints rose from 16 to 23. Alarm calls decreased from 53 to 42. The lieutenant said traffic citations increased in part because the department has more staffing on the road.

Wiss also described personnel constraints. "We currently have nine vacancies still. We have three in field training. One started the academy, and I've been doing interviews one week to try and get some more," he said, adding the next academy round begins in January. Commissioners asked questions about recruitment and lateral transfers; Wiss said the department is actively interviewing and trying to increase recruits going into academy classes.

The commission set a goal for every YIPAC member to complete a YPD ride-along by January 2026. Wiss described the logistics: "[T]here's a ride-along form and a waiver that has to be signed and filled out. You can either email it to records. And if you would cc me on it, that would be good also. Records does a little background, and then I would contact you to see which I'm pretty open. We can work with schedules." He said ride-alongs can be as short as one hour or up to four hours and that the department will try to accommodate schedules.

Wiss announced a drug take-back event scheduled for Saturday at the Farmer's Market and confirmed that the station is not currently maintaining a permanent take-back box in its lobby. He noted alternative drop-off locations in the county for residents who cannot attend the event.

Communications staff Katie Jones and Jeremiah Brown were specifically thanked by commissioners for the department's public releases about incidents, which commissioners said reduces speculation and improves community feedback.

The presentation ended with commissioners thanking Wiss for the report and noting ongoing interest in staffing and community engagement initiatives.