Four years after George Floyd, Michigan lawmakers push police reforms in lame-duck

• Michigan lawmakers are racing to finalize police reform legislation before year’s end
• Advancing bills would establish a ‘duty to intervene,’ restrict no-knock warrants and more
• Past proposals inspired by 2020 police killing of George Floyd have repeatedly stalled in the state Legislature

LANSING — Michigan lawmakers are attempting to finalize a sweeping police reform plan in the final days of Democratic control over state government, despite resistance from some Republicans and law enforcement groups.

The proposed laws would require police departments to check whether prospective hires had previously been fired for misconduct — which has happened numerous times in Michigan — and give police a duty to intervene if they witness a fellow officer using excessive force in the field.

The package also would make it a felony to tamper with body cameras, restrict the use of no-knock warrants and require law enforcement agencies to create policies governing the use of force.

Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, told Bridge Michigan the intent is about “saving lives” and “helping promote public safety” by “putting in really strong standards.”

“We are … promoting greater confidence, greater trust (in police) and better public safety,” Chang said.

Related:

• Police reform going nowhere fast in Michigan, despite Patrick Lyoya death 
• Michigan hasn’t passed any police reforms since George Floyd’s death 
• Critics fear reforms may boost incarcerations of minority youths in Michigan

A broad coalition of 27 social justice groups are pushing lawmakers to approve the reforms. In a letter to legislative leaders, they wrote that “we are still waiting for meaningful action to address” concerns surrounding policing practices that followed the deaths of unarmed Black Americans at the hands of police in 2020.

“These proposals would reduce the risk of future incidents of unarmed people being seriously injured or killed by police, reduce bias-based policing and improve community trust of law enforcement,” the coalition added.

Some law enforcement officials, including from Detroit and Grand Rapids, support the proposals. The legislation would “help police departments grow as agencies,” Detroit interim Police Chief Todd Bettison told lawmakers in a recent committee hearing.

But several of the state’s top law enforcement groups are less positive. Organizations like the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Officers Association of Michigan have offered only spotty support for individual bills, not the full package.

“These bills this session were introduced a little less than a month ago,” Matthew Saxton, the executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association, told the House Criminal Justice committee. “We have been working on the Senate version of this package with chair Chang for just under five years.”

Saxton’s group still opposes four of the 10 bills in the Senate package, and most of the House’s package, including a proposal that would make it a crime for an officer to “knowingly and intentionally” failing to turn on a body camera in certain situations. 

That would disincentivize agencies and discourage them from adopting the body camera technology in the first place, warned Robert Stevenson of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.

One bill that would require officers to complete 24 hours of new training every two years drew particular opposition from law enforcement groups.

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which licenses officers, would require all officers to complete training on implicit bias, procedural justice, crisis intervention, and behavioral health. 

The agency itself has opposed the legislation. MCOLES executive director Tim Bourgeoise argued in committee the current curriculum is based on “science, a job, task analysis, new statutes, new case law, best practices, subject matter experts, research.”

Mandating subjects “would hamstring us,” said Bourgeoise, who noted the commission does support some other aspects of the package.

Policing reforms have been a longtime target for Michigan lawmakers. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Republican then-Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey co-sponsored duty to intervene legislation, but the proposal never made it out of the legislature.

That policy reemerged in the Senate package as part of a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Ruth Johnson of Oakland Township.

Despite the failure to pass such reforms over the past four years, Chang said lawmakers now appear the closest they’ve ever been to doing so. 

Advocates of the changes believe the measures will help officer recruitment amid a time agencies are struggling to recruit new officers.

There are also indications the measures have broader support in the Senate than in the House, where Democrats hold a two-seat majority through the end of the year, when Republicans will take over. 

While the Senate police reform package has some Republican supporters, the House package advanced out of committee this week on straight party-line votes.

“We're going to get a vote (on the House floor.) The question is, will it pass?” said Rep. Donovan McKinney, a Detroit Democrat and one of the architects of the House legislation “We got to do some things with the Republicans and see, and then also on our side, to see if we got all 56 votes in the Democratic caucus.”