July 13, 2021

Opinion: Make police misconduct public to improve trust

By David A. Moran and Adrian Moore on June 13, 2021

The minority of officers who commit misconduct create real problems that ripple throughout the criminal justice system, the authors write.

Michigan House Republicans have introduced an $80 million proposal to provide law enforcement with additional funding for training, mental health services, and recruitment and retention efforts. In the Senate, a bipartisan bill package introduced by Republican Roger Victory and Democrat Stephanie Chang focuses on police improvements including limits on use of force, penalties for excessive use of force and for tampering with body camera evidence, a ban on the use of most no-knock warrants, enhanced training standards for officers, and the study of officer recruitment and retention issues.

But it takes years, even decades, to establish a pattern of misconduct showing that a particular officer is causing innocent people to go to prison. The problem officer could be identified much faster if police departments were required to retain disciplinary records and make them available through the Freedom of Information Act.