EAST LANSING, Mich. — This Wednesday, March 29, the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission will host a public hearing in best practices in police use of force.
“This will be a unique opportunity in East Lansing to consider policing policy with people who have been involved in the national debate about police use of force,” said ELIPOC Chair Erick Williams. “We are excited to partner with the MSU College of Law to bring these experts to our community.”
This is in response to a petition signed by 33 community members. When City Council created the oversight commission in October 2021, they created an ordinance to mandate a hearing if a petition is submitted with at least 20 signatures from members of the community.
“Calling for a public hearing is one method the City Council put into place so people in the community can engage with the Oversight Commission and other community members to talk about policing policy in East Lansing,” said East Lansing City Councilmember Dana Watson, a Council liaison to ELIPOC.
The hearing will begin with national perspectives on best practices in police use of force policy from the following speakers:
• Dr. Angie Weis Gammell, Policy Director of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke University, will present the American Law Institute’s Principles of Policing regarding use of force.
• Dr. Chuck Wexler, Executive Director of Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), will discuss PERF’s Guiding Principles on Use of Force, which were developed over an 18-month period following the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014.
• Dr. Trevor Bechtel, Student Engagement & Strategic Projects Manager of the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions, will discuss findings of a paper he recently co-authored, “Evidence on Measures to Reduce Excessive Use of Force by the Police.”
• Pastor Sean Holland, representing One Love Global, Black Lives Matter Lansing and Black Lives Matter of Michigan, works with others to support families and victims of police violence and to address police use of force in East Lansing, Lansing and Grand Rapids.
The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer discussion session. The commission is planning to hold a second public meeting for community members to share their thought on the recommendations that come out of the first public hearing. The date for this hearing has not been announced yet.
Everyone in the greater East Lansing community and at Michigan State University is welcome to attend the event.
The hearing will be held jointly with the Michigan State University College of Law from 7-9 p.m. The meeting will be held in person at the MSU College of Law, 648 N. Shaw Lane, or over zoom: https://msu.zoom.us/j/96845131212 (Meeting ID: 968 4513 1212 Passcode: Oversight).
For more information, email elipoc@cityofeastlansing.com.
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