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A new billboard in Lansing is bringing attention to comments the East Lansing police chief made that many have characterized as racist.
East Lansing Police Chief Jen Brown defended the department’s use of force against a higher rate of Black individuals by saying the city had “a disproportionate number of minorities come into the community and commit crimes.”
The city manager has said the comment can serve as a learning opportunity for Brown. But a steady stream of speakers at City Council meetings have continued to call for her resignation.
East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission Vice Chair Kath Edsall said the billboard is meant to keep attention on Brown.
“We look away from horrible indignities because we’re looking to the next thing,” Edsall said. “The goal of Citizens for Justice is to make sure this doesn’t get out of the news cycle. It will stay in the news cycle until this issue has been addressed.”
The commission and Edsall have called for Brown to resign.
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The billboard, located on the corner of Kalamazoo Street and Mifflin Avenue, is paid for by Honeybear Project CEO Nadia Sellers in partnership with the Lansing NAACP and the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing.
Sellers was among the first to bring attention to the East Lansing Police Department’s use of force during Michigan State University’s welcome weekend, though she did not initially disclose to local media that her son was among the individuals who police officers pepper sprayed and arrested.
After the East Lansing Police Department named her son in a pre-trial press release, which has not been retracted despite charges being dropped and footage released later by the police department painting a different picture of the interaction, the calls for Brown’s resignation grew louder.
That press release is the basis of a federal lawsuit accusing the Brown and the city of libel.
James McCurtis is the first vice president of the Lansing NAACP.
“The face and the voice of East Lansing is your police chief, Jen Brown. She’s your welcoming committee,” McCurtis said. “She has set the tone for how the city should react to Black people when they come here.”
The East Lansing City Council previously voted to undertake an independent review of the East Lansing Police Department’s actions, policies and procedures.
City Councilmember Kerry Ebersole Singh said the review is ongoing and will take time to complete due to its expansive nature.
