Wayne County deputies union threatens to ‘rebel’ over courthouse security contract

The president of the Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies union is warning that its members would “rebel and leave” if the county moves forward with a $4.9 million contract for additional court security guards. 

The contract with Universal Protection Services, which operates as Allied Universal Security, would fill around 50 vacant positions – a third of the deputies required to fully staff county courtrooms. Supporters say the plan is necessary to ensure safety in courtrooms, but opponents say it amounts to union busting. 

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has estimated it will take a year to fill the 50 vacancies. Without the contract, Wayne County Circuit Court Chief Judge Patricia Perez Fresard is concerned that recent security incidents will only continue. 

Fresard told commissioners last week that due to the shortage deputies are being pulled from three other buildings – the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Penobscot Building and Lincoln Hall of Justice – to ensure the circuit court’s criminal courtrooms can operate and address the case backlog. 

Without enough deputies, Fresard said courtrooms cannot be open to the public but judges have to sit in courtrooms during hearings, regardless of whether they’re held via Zoom or in-person and sometimes with the courtroom locked if there aren’t any deputies available. 

“The public is becoming aware that there is a shortage of security in juvenile justice halls, Penobscot, and CAYMC, and that leaves people in danger,” Fresard told commissioners at a commission meeting.

The three courthouses are mandated to have 159 officers under an agreement between the sheriff’s office and the courts, but 48 positions are currently vacant, according to Chief Administrative Officer Aaron Wagner. 

Corporal Allen Cox, president of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, raised a litany of concerns about the proposed contract, including the county’s lack of engagement with the union that represents deputies and he offered a grim warning to commissioners.

“If you bring in security guards under the auspices that you’re not telling us anything about it or how you plan on doing it, and you haven’t had a conversation with us, the expectation is that our people are going to rebel and leave,” Cox said last week. 

The full commission is expected to vote March 21 on the contract, after it moved out of the Public Safety, Judiciary and Homeland Security committee last week.  

Fresard told commissioners that Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy recently said three warrants were issued due to security incidents in the county courts, and there have been “dozens of incidents of knocking on doors, messing with cameras” due to the lack of security. The prosecutor’s office confirmed in an email that they are aware of the security issues but declined to comment Tuesday on negotiations related to the proposed contract. 

County courts are required to have two deputies in each courtroom at Frank Murphy and, according to Fresard, meeting the requirement wasn’t an issue until after the pandemic when courthouses had a shortage of around 30%, which left other courts with security problems.

Wagner told commissioners last Wednesday that the county administration has worked closely with the sheriff’s office, but Cox says the extent of the county’s communication was limited to one Zoom meeting. 

County officials were focused on addressing safety concerns while the union representing Wayne County’s deputies argued that the county isn’t doing enough to fill vacancies and weakening their union agreement. County Commissioner Jonathon Kinloch, D-Detroit, noted the union’s president used language such as “union-busting” in communications sent to commissioners. 

Kinloch, who described himself as having a “strong tie” to the labor community, responded to Cox’s concerns during last week’s meeting, adding that his own biggest worry was whether the county would be breaking any contractual obligations with the deputies’ union. 

Cox said the union agreement notes deputies are supposed to be provided with a written, detailed account of “anything that’s going to take away from deputy’s positions.” Cox said the union hasn’t received a copy of the contract or any written documentation about it and the county has “different groups trying to supplant the positions while we’re trying to restore them.” 

Wagner disagreed with Cox’s characterization that the contract was negotiated behind the backs of deputies and reiterated that the contract was intended to fill vacant, mandated positions. Additionally, he offered to provide union representatives with a copy of the proposed contract ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

Language in the contract provides a pathway for Allied’s security officers, who are represented by SEIU Local 1, to become employed by the county. 

“For the sheriff’s office to say that they’re going to open up a gateway for security guards to be able to come and join our membership without having any communication for us at all is ridiculous,” Cox told commissioners. 

The contract is being proposed amid an investigation into the private security firm after allegations of racism and abuse were made public, which ultimately led to the private security company voluntarily relinquishing its state license that allows them to make misdemeanor arrests. 

Wagner told commissioners that the incidents alleged in federal lawsuits and media reports occurred before Allied assumed ownership over the private security firm G4S. Allied acquired G4S in April 2021.

Allied currently provides security services at the 36th District Court. If this contract is approved, the private security firm will provide staff for various county-owned buildings, except Frank Murphy. That courthouse requires officers to be certified by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which includes mandatory training and curriculum for every officer in the state of Michigan.

The proposed contract does not account for staffing needs tied to the upcoming move to the newly built Criminal Justice Complex, a long-delayed, five-building project announced in 2018 by Wayne County and Rock Ventures. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said during his State of the County speech that the complex is expected to open in the next couple of months.  

Fresard argued if the contract isn’t approved, it will further limit the ability of courts to conduct day-to-day business. 

“If it is not done, the courthouses cannot be run properly,” Fresard told commissioners. “They have to be shut down. And really, it’s an issue of what do the courts do? Show cause the sheriff? Shut down the courts? We have to run the courts.” 

Kinloch said Tuesday that he asked the administration to include language in the contract that explicitly states it is “temporary” and for the purpose of “supplementing” vacant deputy positions. He also urged staff from the executive’s office to meet with union representatives before the commission votes on the contract. Kinloch confirmed with BridgeDetroit that those changes were made but was unable to confirm whether the parties had met.