Civilian Appeals Board affirms Internal Affairs finding in wrong-address forced-entry case

The Grand Rapids Civilian Appeals Board on an appeal filed as CR24-033 voted to affirm Internal Affairs’ finding that Grand Rapids Police Department officers lawfully entered an apartment after a wrong-address dispatch. The board’s vote upheld the internal review that found the officers’ entry justified under an emergency/exigent-circumstances exception.

Derick, who presented the department’s overview, said the incident began on June 10, 2024, when officers were dispatched to 936 Front Avenue for a reported stabbing. ‘‘Officer Douglas Grandy was first to arrive at that location,’’ Derick said, and investigators later determined the original 911 intake came into Kent County and the address information was relayed incorrectly (call for Apartment 205 was entered and transmitted as 206). Derick told the board Internal Affairs reviewed body-worn camera footage and found officers saw small smears of blood in the hallway, heard an argument, knocked and announced multiple times and then forced entry to look for an injured person.

The appellant, identified in the record as Tompkins, said management later reported a kicked-in door, a broken closet door and $40 missing from a coffee table. Derick told the board that body-worn camera footage did not show money on the coffee table when officers entered and that management was advised how to file a claim; risk management later worked with the owner and, according to GRPD, the owner was reimbursed.

Members focused much of their discussion on whether officers followed training and department policy and on how the shared dispatch process contributed to the error. One board member said the wrong-address entry was ‘‘extremely unfortunate’’ and urged a policy review to see whether addresses can be double-checked when callers remain on the line. The board heard GRPD explain that, because the call originated outside the city and was routed via the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, the address auto-populated in GRPD’s dispatch system and was forwarded to patrol.

After debate that acknowledged the appellant’s frustration and the property damage, the board voted to find that sufficient information existed for it to decide the matter and then moved to affirm the Internal Affairs determination that Officer Douglas Grandy’s entry was exonerated. The roll-call record included affirmative votes from Russell Olmstead, Michelle Williams, Jason Osborne and Dean Pacific; the newly appointed board member Douglas Moleski abstained from the votes because he had not completed onboarding training and other members indicated support for further training and consideration of policy changes to reduce wrong-address entries.

The Office of Oversight and Public Accountability director told the board that when GRPD is found to have acted appropriately they say so, and that, after review, OPA’s position in this case is that the department acted appropriately to protect life. The board closed the matter and moved to other business.

The board did not adopt a change to search or entry law; its action affirmed the internal review of a specific incident. The board suggested follow-up conversations with training and internal affairs staff about whether any procedural changes or additional checks in dispatch processes could reduce the risk of future wrong-address forced entries.