Joint News Release

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

From: Andy Bingel, President GRPOA

Mike Maycroft, President GRPCOA

No need for policy changes for GRPD

Grand Rapids, Michigan - In an unprecedented action the Presidents of the Grand Rapids
Police Officers Association and the Grand Rapids Police Command Officers Association
have issued a joint release in reaction to recent calls by certain community members to
impose a new policy on police operations in response to a recent incident where five
young black males were held at gun point for a short period of time. A detailed account
accompanies this release.

Statement

We would be remiss in our obligations and responsibilities to stand by and up for our
members if we didnt take this opportunity to make our case before the public. We lead the
two largest associations in the police department. We are charged with taking care of the
people who take care of all of our citizens. In recent years all police operations have come
under intense scrutiny after very unfortunate encounters between police and people of color
in other parts of the country came to the attention of the public. After that several videos of
what appeared to be police brutality were aired on social media. Those videos, which
typically only capture the last few minutes of an incident between an individual or
individuals and police, have been used to create a cop hating segment of the public. The
result has been a constant barrage of complaints and demonstrations that question the
professionalism, intent and integrity of our police command staff and our line officers. We
say enough.
Our Chief and his staff have accepted the publics request for more racial sensitivity and
awareness training as well as other aspects of good community relations practices. Every
officer in the department has been through bias training. We have found it not only eye
opening but very helpful. There are a few more steps to be taken, including some studies to
gather factual information about the nature and frequency of police encounters with our
Black and Latino/Hispanic residents. We believe that complete and accurate data serves a
vital purpose in our work and look forward to seeing the results of these studies. The
GRPOA has made an effort to create open dialogue with the Black community. The work has
been slow but progressing.

The overarching issues in all of this relate to racism, equality and equity. We say
overarching because those issues go beyond the control of police. We are in the unenviable
position of having to encounter people in the worst of situations, which gets attention from
the public on various levels. In our daily work as patrol officers, neighborhood officers,
detectives and command officers we see it all. We see the horrible affects of poverty and
despair. We see the results of families breaking down and children being removed from
homes to keep them safe. We are the ones who knock on doors at all hours of the day to tell
a loved one their child, spouse or relative has been killed by an auto accident or violent
confrontation in the streets. We cannot crawl into the hearts of minds of people. If we could,
in an effort to make things equal and safe for everyone, we would make every effort to do
so. In reality, thats not our job.

The people of Grand Rapids have a police department to handle the serious issues of crime.
We are bound by the rule of law and the rules and regulations set forth in our department.
We are subject to changes by the City Commission regarding social policy, as we stated
above. However, when we get a 911 call that says there is a group of people acting
suspiciously and that there may be weapons involved we respond immediately, prepared to
keep innocent citizens from being harmed. Our training kicks in and we follow the law and
our experience to face down any possible situation. Sometimes that includes the take down
of people, and tragically, it may include drawing and discharging our weapons. That is what
police do, at our own risk, so that we can all live in a place that is relatively safe and secure.
Its rough work. It has an enormous physical and emotional drain on everyone in the
department. The one thing we will never do is ask our brothers and sisters to ever hesitate to
save themselves. We signed up to accept the risk, but we all want to go home at night to see
our loved ones.

Our department will continue to review our policies to ensure they are bench marked and in
compliance with all legal standards. We as officers will find ways to expand our
relationships in every part of Grand Rapids, especially areas where people feel
disenfranchised and somehow targeted. We will obey the orders we are given. We will face
our peril as professionals. What we would like is to be given fair treatment by the public.
Our men and women of the Grand Rapids Police Department are honorable, dedicated and
caring people. We have never, nor will we ever, fail in our duty to protect the public, given
the information we are handed and the circumstances we find ourselves in.

We look forward to working with our community partners and our City Commission to keep
Grand Rapids going strong.

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