Commissioners Linda Bernard, Annie Holt, Bryan Ferguson and Jim Holley standing up from their seats. Board staffmember Robert Brown is approaching them.
Commissioners adjourning the meeting.

Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting, March 30, 2023

Dan Ignacio

Commissioners selected Courtney Blakes to be hired as chief investigator. They also addressed the ongoing criminal and administrative investigations into the board being conducted by the Detroit Police Department (DPD) and the city, and the board’s promotion of a police officer accused by three women of domestic abuse. 

“Week after week, I go away not feeling secure in your abilities.” 
— Resident giving a public comment to the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. 

Some commissioners expressed regret in promoting the police officer, Lemuel Sims, to the rank of sergeant.

“It’s my fault. I did not read it as I should have,” Commissioner Jim Holley said, referring to a summary report commissioners received about Sims’ career. Although he pointed out that Detroit police commissioners are volunteers and argued that it’s the job of DPD and BOPC staff to identify issues.

Referring to Sims and other officers, Chair Bryan Ferguson said, “I too had concerns about some officers.” Commissioner Jesus Hernandez wants the board to review DPD’s process for promoting police officers. 

Chair Ferguson responded to several investigations into the board, including a criminal investigation recently launched by DPD’s Internal Affairs Unit. Ferguson recited his press release and said, “I have staked my entire career on transparency. I will not sacrifice any of that for no one.” The city’s Auditor General and Office of Inspector General are also conducting administrative investigations into the board. The latter started its investigation in February after it seized the board’s citizen complaint records. 

The board voted to send an offer letter to Courtney Blakes for the position of chief investigator, after accepting a recommendation to hire her with a salary ranging between $80,000 and $135,000.

Some frustration remained: Commissioner Holley said he has not met Blakes, and Commissioner Willie Bell voted no. Commissioner Hernandez, who chairs the Personnel & Training Committee that recommended Blakes, said the committee followed the city’s hiring protocol. 

Table of Contents

Documentation

The meeting was live-blogged on Mastodon and Twitter for Detroit Documenters, which offers its own report.

Documents available on Documenters.org, including the meeting agenda.

The agency’s last meeting on March 23 was documented by Alex Klaus and Damien Benson. The next meeting on April 6 was documented by Alex Klaus and Heidi Ausgood.

Visit the agency’s website for official information.

Materials

Archived pages

Mastodon posts and meeting page are archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Audio

The actual start of the meeting (3 p.m.) can be heard 30 minutes into the recording. This recording has not been altered. 

Images

Screenshots of online meeting.

Online meeting software showing a video feed of an empty meeting room with tables in a U-shaped arrangement. At the front of the room is a “City of Detroit” banner flanked by United States and Detroit flags, next to a television screen showing a green graphic.
Video feed showing a green photo collage of police officers with text that reads, “Community Meeting. City of Detroit. Channel 21. Board of Police Commissioners.”
Commissioners Linda Bernard, Annie Holt, Bryan Ferguson and Jim Holley bowing their heads.
Police chaplain reading from their phone at a podium with a microphone.
Chair Ferguson speaking. In the online meeting software, the “Webinar Chat” panel contains a message: From Victoria Shah to Everyone at 3:02 p.m., “Thank you for joining the BOPC meeting on Zoom. Please reply in the chat with the contact information (name, phone, email, social media handle) for any community groups we should be in touch with. Or, you can submit the contact information using this Google Form: (long, unintelligible URL).”
Board Secretary Victoria Shah looking at her laptop and speaking into a microphone.
Video feed of a countdown timer app with 29 seconds left. In the online meeting software, the “Webinar Chat” panel contains a message: From Victoria Shah to Everyone at 3:36 p.m., “Thank you for joining the BOPC meeting on Zoom. Please reply in the chat with the contact information (name, phone, email, social media handle) for any community groups we should be in touch with. Or, you can submit the contact information using this Google Form: (long, unintelligible URL).”
Detroit Police Department Deputy Chief Charles Fitzgerald speaking. Commissioner Jesus Hernandez is looking at him.
Vice Chair Holt speaking and pointing to her right while Chair Ferguson rests his chin in his hand.
Person with black, short hair, dark skin, glasses and a black blazer speaking at the podium.
Commissioner Willie Bell speaking.
Commissioner Bernard speaking and pointing to her left.
Commissioner Hernandez speaking. In the online meeting software, the “Webinar Chat” panel contains a message: From Victoria Shah to Everyone at 4:16 p.m., “For those who may have joined late, thank you for joining the BOPC meeting on Zoom. Please reply in the chat with the contact information (name, phone, email, social media handle) for any community groups we should be in touch with. Or, you can submit the contact information using this Google Form: (long, unintelligible URL).”
Commissioner Holley speaking.
Commissioners Bernard, Holt, Ferguson and Holley standing up from their seats. Board staffmember Robert Brown is approaching them.

Meta

Page published April 2, 2023.

Share freely

All original content in this documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Share and republish to everyone, freely.