Live reporting by
Nathaniel Eichenhorn
At Commissioner Darryl Woods’ first meeting as board chair, the board discussed the July 7 "block party" mass shooting, the 911 calls placed prior to the incident and the police response that followed.
Nachum Eichenhorn
@NachumDetroit
Good Morning #Detroit !
I will be live tweeting the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting today at 6:30 for #DetroitDocumenters @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @media_outlier @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
I will be live tweeting the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting today at 6:30 for #DetroitDocumenters @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @media_outlier @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
05:01 PM Jul 11, 2024 CDT
The meeting has started up short of a quorum so they are beginning with the invocation. Unfortunately, the Zoom is muted so we can't hear it.
Sound's on! The meeting today is being hosted by the Citadel of Praise
A quorum is present and the roll was a follows:
Woods, present
Bernard, present
Bell, absent
Carter, absent
Hernandez, present
Smith, present
Banks, present
Burton, absent
Moore, present
Pressley, present
Woods, present
Bernard, present
Bell, absent
Carter, absent
Hernandez, present
Smith, present
Banks, present
Burton, absent
Moore, present
Pressley, present
Chairman Pressley is being succeeded as chairman by Comm'r Darryl Woods, who is being sworn in now.
Chairman Woods is now emphasizing the solemnity of his oath, and his dedication to the people, and to police reform. He vows to tackle the backlog of outstanding cases, and repudiates ambition and promises he has none.
Chairman Woods is now thanking those who helped him achieve his office.
The board is now moving on to officially recognizing community members and organizations
Now the board is going to rush through some certificates recognizing people for contributions to the city
Now the hoard is moving on to the Chief of Police's report. Chief White could not deliver the report because he is at a prayer vigil for the victims of the recent attack
There was a fatal shooting at a block part over July 4 weekend
The report confirms 19 injured, 2 dead in the Juneteenth shooting. No mention of a suspect or witness interviews, only an appeal to the public to call Crimestoppers
DPD also reports (somewhat flatly, imo) that a body was found in the trunk of a burning car with a single gunshot wound to the head.
I'm just waiting for someone to ask about that, honestly. I mean I'm no cop, but a body in the trunk of a burnt out car sounds like it deserves a touch more discussion to me
DPD says that they are going to focus on illegal block parties.
And the DPD agrees! Glock switches are dangerous and it's bad to have and use them. DPD goes on to lay at least some of the blame on "15-year-old females" who attend block parties late at night. DPD asks "where's the parental responsibility"?
The Chairman asks how many 911 calls were received before the shooting. The DPD has no idea.
DPD says they'll shoot a text and try to get back to the board by the end of the meeting
Comm'r Bernard is concerned that "girls are packing" and suggests that there should be programs targeted at teen girls to address the issue.
Comm'r Smith pointed out that a 911 call was released just before the meeting began, in which a DPD officer appears to decline to respond due to being tied up at another block party
The DPD rep is not aware of the call, and says that they're sure Chief White will look into it
The Commander of the precinct is emphasizing the precinct's commitment to community engagement, and to working "on all levels"
As a result of the rise in DV calls over the pandemic, the precinct has been holding a standing weekly meeting to go through and discuss every aggravated assault case in the precinct.
The 6th precinct is doing emotional intelligence training to tackle demeanor complaints
The Youth Advisory Panel is first up. They want to celebrate the BOPCs 50th anniversary
Former Commissioner Crawford expressed anger at the board and the DPD for what he called "pathetic leadership"
He further claims that the Green Light Project is a higher priority than the safety of the citizens
The next commenter accused the board of rubber stamping the DPD and accuses community pastors of failing the community
The next commenter is lamenting the dangerous street racing that has taken the lives of young people in the city
The next commenter wants to address criticisms of the new Chairperson. He goes on to praise Comm'r Woods and criticizes those who look at him with a jaundiced eye due to his past
This commenter has several specific follow ups regarding Chief White's policy on legal observers, the shooting of a 70 year old citizen, and several other things.
The next commenter says she was shot in 2022 and has been dealing with the 12th precinct.
They have been unable to get a meeting with the captain, and the precinct seems to have mislaid the evidence. She further says that she was told Chief White doesn't talk to anyone who isn't with the media
The next commenter praised the DPD and criticized people who "complain, complain, complain" about police misconduct to the BOPC. The commenter ended with "I love our police department"
The next commenter made some election fraud allegations and accused the board of several crimes
Chairman Woods took time to thank Pastor Ellis of the Citadel
Comm'r Bernard reports that they concur with Congresswoman R. Tlaib's assessment of the inappropriateness of the treatment of legal observers some weeks ago, and says more action will be taken on the matter .
Well folks, this closes my coverage of the Detroit BOPC meeting for July 11th. Learn more about our coverage of local meetings at
documenters.org
If you believe anything in the coverage today is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line