The Lansing Branch of the NAACP is raising concerns about proposed changes to the City of East Lansing’s police union contract, saying the revisions would undermine independent oversight and reduce transparency.
The civil rights organization says the proposals would weaken the authority of East Lansing’s Independent Police Oversight Commission by delaying its ability to investigate or recommend discipline until after internal police reviews are completed.
“How can an oversight commission work if they don't have access to information and they don't have the ability to fully understand issues that are going on in the community between the police and the community?” said Harold A. Pope, president of the NAACP Lansing Branch.
The proposed changes are part of revisions to Ordinance 1533, which governs the powers of the oversight commission. Pope said the revisions would also restrict access to officer names and body-camera footage.
“It removes their ability to initiate investigations and also prevents them from using names as they're going through,” Pope said. “It limits their access to information.”
He warned that the changes would make it more difficult for the public to monitor police conduct and hold officers accountable.
“It weakens what we consider to be transparency,” Pope said. “The oversight commission would help in showing the community and the police transparency. And these efforts, in my opinion, would hinder that relationship and understanding of transparency.”
The East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission did not respond to a request for comment on the proposed changes.
