In the wake of public backlash from community members, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners won’t pursue the elimination of virtual public comment at meetings.
District 1 Commissioner Henrietta Ivey — who proposed the controversial motion last week — motioned during Thursday’s meeting to withdraw her proposal, citing ongoing outcry from the community, some of which, she said, was rooted in “improper information and misinformation.”
“I will stand on what I ran on: accountability, transparency and trustworthiness, and that’s who I am today,” Ivey said at the Sept. 3 meeting. “That’s who I’ll be tomorrow. That’s who I’ll be forever, and I will be there for you.”
Several commissioners commended Ivey on changing her stance, including Commissioners Darious Morris (District 3), Victoria Camille (District 7) and Scotty Boman (District 4) who had been vocal about accessibility and accountability concerns last week.
Appointed commissioner Darryl Woods had supported Ivey’s motion last week, but had also changed his mind after hearing from community members since then.
“We don’t come to play games when it comes to folks, people, their rights, disability rights and all of that type of stuff,” he said in the meeting. “We stand ten toes down in protecting the civil liberties of others.”
Ivey said her phone number and address – which were found on a public document when she filed to run for office – were circulated online in the last week. Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison’s information was also shared.
Dozens of community members and advocates attended the meeting, many planning to voice opposition to the motion. The public comment period was ultimately cut short and the meeting adjourned over an hour early due to the tornado warning, but those who did speak expressed gratitude and support to commissioners and pivoted to unrelated critiques.
“I want to thank you for the vote that you had made. (There’s) something different I would have said earlier,” Rochella Stewart, a longtime Detroit advocate, said. “…There’s a lot of people I know that (have) a relationship with me that looked at these meetings to be able to comment on Zoom and on the phone for a reason because they can’t get here. So I thank you.”
Soon after public comment began, over 40 in-person and virtual commenters were announced. To the outrage of many attendees, Chairman Robert Jones attempted to shorten the allotted two-minute individual comment time to 90 seconds. After some confusion, his motion was quickly struck down by the parliamentarian.
Similar to last week’s meeting, Thursday’s agenda was not available on the BOPC website beforehand, though a version of it was made available Wednesday afternoon via the BOPC Facebook page.
There is no additional cost associated with the BOPC’s live virtual commenting options. The BOPC runs public comment via Zoom using the city’s existing license with the company. Comments are moderated virtually and in-person by existing staff.
