EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
MEMORANDUM
TO: Kim Johnson, Chief of Police
FROM: Steve Gonzalez, Deputy Chief of Police
DATE: February 3, 2021
SUBJECT: Study Committee Follow Up Questions Part 2—
City of East Lansing
410 Abbot Road
East Lansing, M14882}
(517) 319-6927
w\vw.c'lm_(en§l :\n,§'ng cgm The Study Committee on Police Oversight submitted several follow up questions to the
police department on January 11, 2021. Due to the volume of questions the responses will
be separated into two responses. This memo accounts for the second set of responses.
3: Weekly Arrest Regorts [Rationales (1), (2) and (-4)]: Are ELPD WeeklyArrest Reports
aggregated into annual reports? If so, we request these aggregated reports for 201 7
through 2020. Data in a spreadsheet formatwould be ideal. [Weekly Arrest
Reports: https://www.citvofeastlansing. com/Archive.aspx?AMID=4 7]
As noted in the first response these reports can be aggregated by year. However, when we
aggregated the 2017 Case and Arrest Summary report it was 256 pages long and too much
information to be provided on the meeting’s agenda. In working with the Chair and Vice
Chair of the Committee they suggested an alternative of downloading the data in an Excel
file and providing the committee with a URL of where document is stored.
In working with the ELPD Records Bureau I was informed that all weekly Case and Arrest
Summaries dating back to March 2016 have already been posted online for public access.
Prior to March 2016 weekend Case and Arrest summaries are posted for public access
dating back to 2014. The link to these documents is:
https://www.citvofeastlansing.com/Archive.aspx?AMID=47
5. Calls for service in 2020: City Manager Lahanas included Calls for Service data in the
Police Realignment document ofJuly 14, 2020. Please provide parallel data for 2020.
Ingham County 911 provides a complete annual accounting of all calls for service, traffic
stops, and assignments as recorded in the computer aided dispatch system (CAD). The
2020 CAD report from Ingham County 911 is attached to this memo.
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
6: Disorderl conduct arrests [Rationales (1), (3) and (4)]: How many arrests for
disorderly conduct were there in 2019 and 2020? Does this category include only arrests
under Section 26-52 ofChapter 26 ofthe City Code, or are there others under Michigan
lam»? Is it possible to disaggregate arrests under the City Code ?om others?
Disorderly Conduct arrests account for alleged violations of Section 26-52 of Chapter 26 of
the City Code. State law violations are captured under different ?le c asses. Below are a
breakdown of 2019 & 2020 Disorderly arrests according to the ELPD 400 Race and
Ethnicity report in the SRMS Dashboarc:
Disorderly Conduct Arrests (File Class 5311-53001)
2019 2020
157 29
There were 3,979 Calls for Service for Public Order Crimes in 2019, according to the City
Manager George Lahanas July 14, 2020 statement to Council on Police Realignment.
’
What does “Public Order Crimes include, and how does it compare to the number
”
ofcrimes or arrests under Section 26-52 ofChapter 26 ofthe City Code?
Disorderly Conduct violations or arrests account for a very small percentage of public
order crimes or calls for service that the East Lansing Police Department responds to.
Public Order crimes and calls, as termed above, encompass incidents such as noise and
party complaints, trespassing, ?ghts, harassment, prowling, suspicious persons, trouble
with subjects, etc. This is a wide-ranging category that may or may not result in arrest or
documentation in a formal police report. It is not uncommon that an of?cer may respond to
a call for service such as this and ?nd that no crime has occurred. The of?cer may also
mediate the situation from a peace keeping role.
7.‘Reduced enforcementusing LEIN [Rationales (1), (3) and (4)].' In July 2020 the ELPD
adopted this policy:
“The indiscriminate running oflicense plates shall not be a practice ofthis agency or its
agents. Whenan officer has an articulable reason to run a license plate, they may. When
an o?icerruns a license plate in LEIN, this activity shall be documented on the ojfcers’
daily activity log. The entry should log the plate and the reason for inquiry. O?icersmay
run plates based on current articulable knowledge, information shared through Law
Enforcement networks or prior to making a tra?icstop on a vehiclefor a valid o?ense.
”
This data will permit assessment ofthe e?ort to reduce enforcement. Please provide
relevant baseline data for the 2019 calendar year and for 2020, separated into the period
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
beforeand a?terthe new policy went into e?’ect.(We recognize that the 2020 data are
a?ected by the pandemic.)
The Records Division supervisor inquired with the Michigan State Police LEIN Field
Services unit and MICJIN to determine if this metric could be pulled from the system.
They advised that it is not possible to search a total number of vehicle registrations (license
plates) run by the department during a given period.
[Rationales (1) and (3)].' Would the policy as it now reads have permitted the stop of
Anthony Loggins on December 28, 2019?
This updated LEIN policy language would not have applied in this case. The initial reason
for stop in this case was for failing to signal while turning.
8: External study of arrest data [Simplefollow-up question to presentation ].' Gonzalez
told East Lansing Infothat ELPD is considering an academic study ofthe 201 7 to
2019 arrest data. “Such a study would utilize experts to study the data and draw
conclusions on its meaning and possibly make suggestions as we move forwardwith
policing e?orts in East Lansing, he said (httgs://eastlansinginzo.news/race—and—ethniciQ-
”
reports—fr0m~elpd-concern—studv-committee/). Has ELPD contracted for such a study, or
does it plan to do so? jfso, when do you expect this study to be completed, and will it be
made public?
The East Lansing Police Department has not contracted for such a study. The police of?cer
currently assigned to the Police Administration Coordinator position is researching studies
of this nature. He is currently doing outreach to a variety of commercial and academic
resources to determine the logistics, expense, and data needed for this type of study.An
RFP is being developed for such a study.
This is not a study that ELPD has the capacity to conduct in-house.
9: Use of force2020 annual synopsis [Simplefollow-up question to presentation]: In his
Dec. 11, 2020 memo to the Study Committee, Deputy ChiefSteve Gonzalez said “a 2020
use offorcereport synopsis will be completed Willthe Study Committee and the City
”
Council receive this report? Whendo you expect the report will be completed?
A summary has been completed by Captain Connelly and is attached to this memo.
10: Use at forcetotals and data by demographic categories [Rationales (1), (2) and
(4)]: Deputy ChiefGonzalez said at the Dec. 7, 2020 Study Committee meeting that ELPD
leaders have worked recently with Michigan State ofPolice so ELPD can now pull
demographic data with Use ofForce incidents. Please provide information about total use
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
af?arcecases with all the demographic data that are now available (such as race, gender,
and age) for the 201 7 to 2020 calendar years.
—
The below graphs are generated by the SRMS Dashboard Use of Force report. These
numbers account for all of the following use of force categories as built within the system.
0 Handgun Use
0 Handgun Display
0 Ri?e Use
0 Ri?e Display
- Shotgun Use
0 Shotgun Display
0 Taser Use
0 Personal Chemical Agent (pepper spray) Use
0 Personal Chemical Agent (pepper spray) Display
0 ASP Baton Use (no longer carried by ELPD Officers)
I ASP Baton Display (no longer carried by ELPD Officers)
0 Handcuf?ng (non—arrest)
Please note that when running these reports, I found some discrepancies between the
number of total cases recorded and the total offenders as noted in each table. This could be
due to a few factors. One, the reporting officer did not enter the offender’s race and sex
(which should be caught at the ?rst line report review phase). Two, as currently built the
Use of Force report only pulls demographic data from a person entered as an Arrestee or
Suspect. If the person is entered into the “Other” tab on the police report this Use of Force
report may not be capturing their demographics. An example of why someone may be
entered into the “Other” tab is if force was used during a mental health call. These are not
criminal matters and therefore the person is often not listed as an arrestee or suspect. Three,
any ?rearm usage Use of Force reports have involved the putting down of an injured
animal, i.e. Car VS. Deer accident. These incident reports do not capture demographics as
they do not apply.
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
The following discrepancies were noted:
0 2017
0 Total Offenders: 132
0 Total Cases: 144
0 Total Offenders: 130
0 Total Cases: l53
o Total Offenders: 124
0 Total Cases: 147
0 Total Offenders: 82
o Total Cases: 104
2017 Use of Force Demographic Totals
A - Asian M Male
- 2
B Black or
- F - Female 4
African American
B - Black or M Male
~
37
African American
U Unknown
-
F Female
- 5
U Unknown
- M - Male 22
U Unknown
- U - Unknown 5
W White
- F - Female 7
W - White M Male
- 50
Total Offenders 132
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
2018 Use of Force Demographic Totals 2019 Use of Force Demographic Totals
A - Asian M - Male 2 A Asian
- M —
Male 1
B Black or
- F - Female 3 B - Black or F Female
- [1
African American African American
B - Black or M Male - 52 B Black or
~ M Male ~
46
African American African American
U Unknown«
F - Female 2 U Unknown
—
F Female
~ 5
U Unknown-
M Male - 23 U Unknown
-
M Male -
17
U Unknown- U Unknown
- 4 U - Unknown U Unknown- 1
W White —
F Female
-
7 W - White F - Female 7
W - White M - Male 37 W - White M Male - 36
Total Offenders 130 Total Offenders 124
2020 Use of Force Demographic Totals
B - Black or F - Female 2
African American
B Black or
- M - Male 29
African American
U Unknown
~ F Female
- 4
U - Unknown M - Male [0
U - Unknown U Unknown
- 2
W - White F - Female 7
W White - M - Male 28
Total Offenders 82
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
Regarding use offorceincidents, is data by racial category ofthe police o?icer
involved available, as well as the member ofthe public? If so, please provide it.
The SRMS Dashboard report does not contain a report to retrieve this information. Each
use of force report would need to be analyzed to identify the reporting officer and not their
demographic information.
Ifpossible, disaggregate these data by type ofuse offorceused, or provide us with a
spreadsheet. These are the categories used in the WeeklyArrest Reports Firearm
—
Display (8801), Firearm Discharge (8802), Taser Display (8806), Taser Deployed (8807),
PPCT [Pressure Point Control Tactics (8808), and Other Force (8809). (The categories
used in the Nov. 23, 2020 PowerPoint are dijferent. There is a question about this later.)
The below data is generated from the ELPD Case and Arrest Summary for the above
speci?ed ?le classes during the indicated year.
2017 Case and Arrest Summary Report
File Class Incident Totals
8801 6
8802 5
8806 1
8807 1
8808 3
8809 13
2018 Case and Arrest Summary Report
File Class Incident Totals
8801 14
8802 4
8806 0
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
8807 1
8808 1
8809 10
2019 Case and Arrest Summary Report
File Class Incident Totals
8801 6
8802 14
8806 4
8807 2
8808 7
8809 18
2020 Case and Arrest Summary Report
File Class Incident Totals
8801 14
8802 3
8806 1
8807 0
8808 6
8809 31
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
[Follow—upquestions to clarijizpresentation]: Here is a table with the data you presented
(with handgun and rifleuse deleted so only instances involving humans are included) Are
the totals in the bottom row an accurate total count ofinstances ofuse offorceinvolving
humans in each ofthese years?
The table presented in the follow up questions is accurate based on the Use of Force
presentation provided to the Study Committee. However, as noted we have found
discrepancies between the SRMS dashboard Case and Arrest Summary report and SRMS
Dashboard Use of Force Report. The discrepancies appear to be grounded in whether a use
of force ?le class (88XX) is included in the original police report. The Case and Arrest
Summary pulls data based on the ?le class, while the Use of Force report is based on the
information entered on the force tab of an original police report.
Is ELPD changing the use offorcecategories it is using for reporting? If so, what are the
current categories? Wheredoes the list ofcategories that ELPD is currently using come
from is it a national standard? Please explain the relationship between and nine use of
-—
forcecategories in the Nov. 23 presentation and the six use offorcecodes used in the
WeeklyArrest Reports: Firearm Display (8801), Firearm Discharge (8802), Taser Display
(8806), Taser Deployed (8807), PPCT- Pressure Point Control Tactics (8808), and Other
Force (8809). (Some categories match up easily; others do not.)
ELPD does not have any current plans to change the use of force categories. The current
categories are de?ned in the SRMS system by the State of Michigan. The categories in the
SRMS Use of Force report and contained in the force tab on the original police report are
loaded into the system by SRMS.
Whydo you think “non-arrest handcu?ing” increase markedly in 2019 (from 31 to 46)?
Deputy ChiefGonzalez said you needed to give some thought to this.
There is no direct data to lead to a firm conclusion on this. However, the SRMS Case and
Arrest Summary for 2018 Mental Health Investigations shows 103 incidents while 2019
report shows 115 incidents. Quiteoften these result in a person having to be taken into
protective custody as a Person Requiring Treatment (PRT). These incidents often lead to
non-arrest handcuf?ng. This increase may correlate, in part, with the non-arrest
handcuffmg increase.
The ELPD Complaint Process Presentation to the Study Committee on December 7, 2020
included thefollowing data concerningAdministrative Inquiries during 2019: Policy
Violations 2 (J Sustained and 1 Police Review); Use ofForce 2 (I Sustained and I
— —
Exonerated).
These inquiries were not included in the ELPD report to the Human Relations Commission
in February 2020. Please provide information about these inquiries (including the dates of
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
thesefourincidents and complaints about them), since use offorceincidents and policy
violations resulting in policy review are ofparticular importance.
The below summaries regard 2019 Administrative Inquiries. This summary was also
provided to Human Rights Commission at their February 3, 2021 meeting:
2019 Administrative Inquiry Summaries
19-1
Complaint Classi?cation: Policy Violation
Disposition: Sustained
O?icer Race: White
O?icer Sex: Male
O?icer 5-year (2020-2015) Complaint Trend (all): 0
Officer5-year (2020-2015) Admin Inquiry Trend (all): 1
0 Policy Violation (1)
A police officer was on administrative leave for a medical issue when he noti?ed Police
Administration that he had been arrested for drunk driving. An inquiry was begun to
determine the facts of the matter.
The inquiry found that the officer was in northern Michigan when his vehicle became stuck
in a ditch. The police agency having jurisdiction of the area responded to a call of the
accident and contacted the officer. The responding Sheriffs Deputy established enough
probable cause to support an arrest for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI). The officer was
arrested and transported to the county jail in accordance with the agency’s OWI protocols.
The inquiry was sustained as a policy violation with resulting disciplinaiy action. This
officer resigned from ELPD in 2019.
19-2
Complaint Classifica?on: Policy Violation
Disposition: Policy Review
Employee Race: White
Employee Sex: Female
Employee 5-year (2020-2015) Complaint Trend (all): 0
Employee 5-year (2020-2015) Admin Inquiry Trend (all): 1
0 Policy Violation (1)
Police Administration was made aware that a civilian employee had inadvertently
disseminated two unredacted police reports to the public when they were meant to remain
private.
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
The inquiry found that the employee had collated two police reports and intended to email
them to the East Lansing City Attorney’s Office per normal operating procedures.
However, the employee mistakenly sent the police reports to a media email distribution list.
The employee took immediate steps to contact those that received the police reports and
request that they delete the information.
The inquiry determined that the employee did not publicize these reports with any
malicious intent. The inquiry was closed with a Policy Review disposition to ensure that a
mistake such as this does not occur again. The revisions taken in the aftermath of this
include:
1. All complaint and warrant or sensitive information was to be printed and sent to the
City Attorney’s Office in the daily mail run.
2. Auto ?ll for email addresses was disabled on Records Staffs PCS.
3. A send prompt was added to all Records Staff’ s PCS.
4. Staff was instructed to review their attachments and email recipients prior to
sending information.
19-3
Complaint Classi?cation." Use ofForce
Disposition.‘ Sustained
Oj?cer Race.’ White
O?icer Sex: Male
Officer5-year (2020-2015) Complaint Trend (all): I
0 Policy Violation (1)
Officer 5 -year (2020~20I5) Admin Inquiry Trend (all): 1
0 Use ofForce (1)
Subject ’s Race: White
Subject ’sSex: Male
A police supervisor notified administration that a use of force violation occurred during an
arrest of a subject. Administration began an inquiry to determine the facts of the violation.
An of?cer had arrested an individual for attempted theft of a moped and was in the process
of placing him in the backseat of a patrol car. The subject was handcuffed behind his back
and ran from the of?cers just prior to getting into the patrol car. The of?cers pursued him
on foot. Once close enough to the subject one of?cer deployed his Taser. The probes struck
the subject and caused him to fall to the ground resulting in injury.
The inquiry found that the of?cer violated training guidelines and was sustained. The
officer received resulting disciplinary action.
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
19-4
Complaint Classi?cation." Use ofForce
Disposition: Exonerated
O?icer Race: White
O?icer Sex: Male
O?icer 5-year (2020-2015) Complaint Trend (all): 2
0 Policy Violation (1)
0 Demeanor (1)
Officer 5 -year (2020-2015) Admin Inquiry Trend (all): I
0 Use ofForce(1)
Subjeefs Race: Black
Subject ’s Sex: Male
Police Administration became aware of a social media post to Twitter accusing an officer
of threatening to hang a subject by his neck. The post was accompanied by a video. An
immediate inquiry was started.
The administrative inquiry found that the officer did not make this threat per the audio
from the posted video. However, the officer did say “I will hold on to your neck”. The
circumstances leading up to the confrontation involve the detainment of the subject for a
weapons violation. While in the backseat of the patrol car, handcuffed behind his back, the
subject was attempting to use his cell phone. The officers moved to intervene and stop the
subject from making the call. While the officer was retrieving the phone ?‘om the subject
he was holding onto his “shoulder/trap muscle area”. The inquiry did not find any use of
force policy violations.
lngham County 911 CAD Report - 2020
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept 911HU- 911 hangup 85
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept ABANDVE— abandoned vehicle 45
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept BOMB— bomb threat device loca 1
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept CHlLD— child abuse/neglect 29
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept D|SORD- disorderly subject 8
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ESCORT-bank escort 1
ELPD—East Lansing Police Dept HARASS-harassment 120
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept HAZARD— road hazard 202
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept KEYRUN— keyrun 1
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept LARCEN larceny
—
643
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept OUl- operating under the influ 22
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PlACCL-injury accident 86
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PlN|NL— accident w/entrapment 16
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PROST|TUTE- prostitute 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PROWL- prowler complaint 13
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept RETAIL retail fraud/shoplift
—
115
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept STALK— stalking complaint 17
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SUBPOENA— subpoena service 113
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SUSPKG-suspicious package 7
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept UNKTBL— unknown trouble 138
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept UT|L— utility complaint 35
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept ADMlN—administrative call 547
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ANIMAL— animal complaint 63
ELPD—East L ansing Police Dept ATL-attempt to locate 39
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept CHKlD-check id 44
ELPD~East Lansing Police Dept CROSS|NG— school cross guard 35
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept CROWD» crowd control 13
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept CSC-sexual asslt 30
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept DRUGS- suspected drug activit 18
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept FlGHT-fight 188
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept FlREWK-fireworks complaint 26
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept FOLLOW— followup 356
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept GOVORD gov order complaint
- 186
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept lNMATE-prisoner trans/guard 1
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept K9ASST-police k9 assist 52
ELPD~EastLansing Police Dept LOCK-lock out 8
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept MDOP- mal. dest. property 197
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept MEDlCL~police asst on medical 357
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept MlSS|N— missing person 34
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept NOlSE—noise complaint 1110
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept OlWARRANT- ofcr init warr pu 26
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept PARTY- party complaint 297
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept PEACE— peace officer 26
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SCHOOL-school check 3
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SHOOT- shooting 5
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SUBJDOWN- subject down 6
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept THREAT-threats complaint 101
ELPD~EastLansing Police Dept TRASH— illegal dumping complai 14
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept TRESP- trespassing complaint 26
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept WARRANT-warrant pick up 34
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept WEAPON—incident inv a weapon 19
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ACCNON~accident non traffic 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept BARCHK-bar checks 50
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept DOG—dog complaint 107
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept DOMES— domestic assault 99
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept DROWN2L— drown in moving h2o 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept FO0T—foot patrol 206
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept FRAUD fraud
—
219
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept JUVIE-juvenile complaint 29
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept LlQUOR-liquor violations 6
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept NEIGHBOR-neighbor complaint 26
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept 0RDVlOL— ordinance violation 233
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PARK- parking complaint 1602
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PASST— police assist 168
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ROBBER-robbery 16
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SECUR-check security of bldg 123
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SPECAS— special assignment 158
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept STAB- stabbing 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SUSPER-suspicious person 598
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept TBLSUB-trblsom subj no asslt 332
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept TSTOP— traffic stop 4525
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept WELFAR-check welfare 657
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ALARMB— b&e alarm 341
ELPD~East Lansing Police Dept ALARMH- hold up alarm 35
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ALARMO-other alarm 39
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ARSON- arson comp 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ASSAULT-assault complaint 137
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept BURG—home invasion/B&E 122
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept ClVlL—civildisturbance 57
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept DELMSG-deliver message 4
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept DOA— deceased subject 1
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept DRUNK— intox subject 15
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept FlREL-police assist on fire 100
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept HlTRUN- hit and run accident 154
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept MOTOR—motorist assist 282
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept OBSCEN-obscenity complaint 17
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PDACC— property damage accide 637
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PPO- personal protection orde 25
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PPPDA- Private Prop accident 87
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PRT—person requiring treatme 15
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept PUPROP—pick up property 84
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept RAW- runaway 15
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept RECK-reckless driving compla 62
ELPD—East Lansing Police Dept SHOTS- shots fired 61
ELPD—East Lansing Police Dept SU|C|D- suicidal subject 22
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept SUSS|T- suspicious situation 216
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept SUSVEH— suspicious vehicle 235
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept TRAFF- traffic control 42
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept TRANS-transport 133
ELPD—East Lansing Police Dept TXMSG TX request/message
- 8
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept UDAA stolen auto
—
230
ELPD—East Lansing Police Dept UNKACC— unk injury accident 42
ELPD—EastLansing Police Dept UNWANT- unwanted guest 339
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept VlNCHK-veh id number check 10
ELPD-East Lansing Police Dept VPC—visual/vacation prop chk 196
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
MEMORANDUM
TO: '
Chief Johnson
FROM: Captain Connelly
DATE: January 2021
SUBJECT: 2020 Use of Force Review
City of East Lansing
COMMUNICATIONS
410 Abbot Road
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517)319-6927 2020 brought many changes to the East Lansing Police Department. Given the national
www c'yg1§a=tl:.\g=iug.cgm
conversation on Police and Use of Force, the Agency was proactive in analyzing our
procedures and training, then adjusting on numerous fronts. During the year many aspects
concerning the Use of Force were discussed at length and improvements in tracking,
reporting, training and review protocols were instituted.
The East Lansing Police Department has a strong history of dedication to training on this
subject matter. While this calendar year presented challenges regarding Covid-19 and
close contact, the training cadre for use of force was creative and effective in still
delivering adequate and appropriate training to our staff. Modifications in Policy were
completed to come in-line with national standards and in early 2021 the ELPD was
nationally certi?ed for it’s Use of Force protocols and policy. The Use of Force staff also
addressed a point of concern from the community in the use of Head Stabilization. Every
officer in the East Lansing Police Department was trained on the new protocol.
A few of the major benchmarks instituted this year were the reporting of force to the FBI,
Policy changes requiring employees to immediately report any use of force to the duty
supervisor and mandating a meaningful review of any reported force. This process ensures
that Police Administration is kept apprised of any use of force outside a normal arrest. It
also serves to require not just a first line supervisory review of force used, but
administrative review and tracking as well. This multi-teared review serves to track and
alert Police Administration to any patterns of force, or officer behavior which could be
concerning. To ensure accountability in reporting Police Administration runs weekly
audits in our reporting system to prevent any uses of force from going unreviewed. This
process was initiated in May of 2020.
To date this process has allowed to quickly and accurately see how our of?cers are
applying the use of force, and what level force is being used. From the inception of this
new protocol to year end the East Lansing Police Of?cers were engaged in the use of force
on forty-six separate events, excluding the use of firearms to dispatch wounded animals.
EAST LANSING POLICE DEPARTMENT
Quality Services for a Quality Community
No East Lansing Police Of?cers applied or attempted to apply deadly force throughout
2020.
Below is a brea (down of the types of force the ELPD used from May 2020 through
December 2020:
Handcuf?ng
Physical Controls
Uses of Force
Knee Strikes
Weapon Displays
It is important to note that with relation to the data listed above, it is vital to look at the
types of calls where force was utilized. Of the 46 instances when force was utilized the
tracking shows a relation of the type of call and force utilized. 24% of the time ELPD
utilized force, it was in response to a subject in mental distress or exhibiting violent
behavior of some kind. Further, of the 46 calls 9 of them there was a weapon in use or on-
scene when the officers where there policing the situation. On another 8 of these calls, the
officers were responding to a call that was violent in nature.
On top of all the efforts taken to improve our systems and accountability, Police
Administration met multiple times with the City’s Human Rights Commission to review
and discuss off1cer’s application of force on several calls for service. This transparency
and willingness to take meaningful review of our use of force practices shows the level of
commitment by police leadership towards equity and accountability.
As the East Lansing Police move into 2021 these improved methods of tracking and
reviewing the use of force will continue. The agency remains committed to training and
accountability and seeking to stay at the forefront of best practices. The agency is
cognitive that the matter of force is a highly sensitive and scrutinized subject. The East
Lansing Police Department is dedicated to transparency and accountability in this matter
and all areas.
