"When I heard how many people go through this and nothing is done. ... it's scary," says Sherry Lyngvar.
MT Photo/Bill Gemmell

Cop out

Coalition against police brutality says Archer isn't doing enough.

by Ann Mullen
5/31/00

What happens when Detroit police investigate themselves? Read Ann Mullen's in-depth report about an off-duty cop shooting an unarmed citizen ... and how it was handled by Detroit police.

Activists want an independent review of all shootings by police.

Pinned close to her heart, Sherry Lyngvar wore a laminated button with a photo of her brother, who was shot and killed in 1998 by a Detroit police officer. Others also wore buttons with pictures of loved ones lost when shot by police officers. One man clutched an old newspaper article about a friend who was killed by a Detroit officer last year. And some cracked jokes about not trusting the police or told how they were allegedly assaulted by the cops.

Lyngvar has joined a dozen or so others who gather at a church on the city’s west side each week to share their grief – and seek ways to prevent others from meeting a similar fate. They are the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, which was formed in 1997 by families and friends of victims of police shootings.

For the past three years the coalition has held protests and marches; the group petitioned the City Council for a hearing, where dozens of Detroiters spoke out about alleged police abuses. Despite repeated attempts to call attention to this issue, the group members say that when it comes to the powers that be – including the media – their message has fallen on deaf ears.

They complain that Mayor Dennis Archer attempted to address the issue only after recent news reports about Detroit’s high number of police shootings and killings, and the department’s shoddy investigation of these incidents. But the group says that Archer has not gone far enough. Until he does more, the coalition members say they will not go away.

"It’s scary"

Lyngvar went to her first coalition meeting three weeks ago, just after both Detroit dailies ran stories about Detroit police shootings. Ironically, she did not learn about the group from the news reports, but the police. She says that the cops were complaining about the coalition, which was demonstrating downtown on the same day Lyngvar’s family was holding a protest of its own over the shooting death of her brother, Teddy LaRoque III, by officer Anthony Goree. Lyngvar says she talked to the group that day and has since been going to meetings.

But it hasn’t been easy. Before Lyngvar joined the group, she says, she was beginning to find some peace about her brother’s death. After listening to others talk about their pain, Lyngvar admits that she feels overwhelmed.

"When I heard how many people go through this and nothing is done. ... it’s scary," she says.

Lyngvar says that her brother’s death is one example of nothing taking place to bring about justice.

In some cases, however, it is not immediately clear who is at fault.

According to court records including the lawsuit Lyngvar’s family filed against the city, the night of the September 1998 shooting went like this: LaRoque was driving his Jeep near Goree’s home on the northwest side. An argument ensued between LaRoque and Goree over Goree’s wife’s car which blocked the road. LaRoque pulled his Jeep into a driveway and the men continued to argue. One witness said he saw the off-duty officer open the trunk of his car and take out a gun, and another said that Goree shouted, "If you want a piece of me then come on back here." When LaRoque drove across a lawn heading for the officer, Goree shot him between two and six times, according to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s report. LaRoque, who was unarmed, was dead at the scene; a test showed that he had alcohol in his blood.

The department ruled the shooting justified. Goree, who was serving as personal security for the mayor at the time of the shooting, is still with the force.

About two months ago, a three-lawyer panel recommended a $1 million settlement, which the city and Lyngvar’s family both rejected. Lyngvar says that her family does not want money; they want Goree prosecuted – and they want police shooting cases reviewed by independent investigators, not the department.

Demanding change

Arnetta Grable helped found the coalition after her son, LaMar, was shot and killed by officer Eugene Brown in 1996; Brown also shot eight others, two of them fatally, over six years. She says that she is glad to see the recent news reports focusing on her son’s death and other police shooting cases, but is frustrated that it took so long.

"We have been saying this for three years," says Grable. "The fact that it took so long for someone to pay attention is very heartbreaking."

The former restaurant owner, who gave up her business to devote all her time to the coalition, says that early last year the group gave the Detroit City Council a list of reforms to help prevent police brutality and more deaths. But Grable says the council did nothing – though about 60 residents had attended a council hearing in late 1998 to complain about police abuses.

One of the coalition’s demands is that the city track all citizen complaints and compile statistical information regarding police officers who shoot civilians, and that this information be made available to the public.

City Council member Nicholas Hood III says that the legislative branch has been pushing the police department to do just that. "Once a person is killed by an officer or is the victim of police brutality, you need to find a way to prevent that officer from doing it again," says Hood.

The coalition also wants the Board of Police Commissioners and the chief to be elected positions. Citizens can lodge police complaints with the board, but are often afraid or don’t feel their concerns are addressed, says Grable.

The coalition’s main demand is that the city bring in an outside investigator to review current police shooting cases and closed ones. Archer has refused to do either.

Since the media reported that Detroit police officers had a higher rate of fatal shootings during the ‘90s than any other of the country’s biggest cities, Archer ordered Internal Affairs to take over investigations of all police shootings, rather than Homicide, which had been doing so.

"I don’t trust Internal Affairs, and the citizens of Detroit don’t trust them," Grable said to the others at the meeting.

"We definitely have to have the federal government step in here," said coalition member and design engineer Ed Klee, whose friend, Darren Miller, was also shot and killed by officer Brown last year. "It is a good old boy network with the blue shroud of silence."

But Michelle Zdrodowski, Archer’s deputy press secretary, says that the mayor does not think an independent investigator is necessary.

"He has confidence in Internal Affairs, that they will do the best job," she says.

After debating whether to ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the police department at last week’s meeting, the group decided to call on Amnesty International. They want the organization, which focuses on prisoner abuses worldwide, to monitor Detroit police shootings and other alleged misconduct. And no matter what, the group members say they will continue holding protests and try to get their message out.

Ann Mullen is a MT staff writer.