Attorney General Dana Nessel has weighed in on a lawsuit filed on behalf of Metro Times requesting Michigan State Police to release the identities of all current and former officers, information sought as part of a project to create a national database tracking police misconduct.
Nessel offered her support in the form of an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court” brief, in which an individual or organization not party to a legal case weighs in with insights or expertise.
In a motion filed Wednesday in Michigan’s Court of Claims, Nessel argues as “the chief law enforcement officer of the State” that MSP should release the names in the interest of transparency and accountability.
“Our State — like all states — gives a great deal of power to law enforcement officers — and not just a great amount of power, but indeed a monopoly on such power,” Nessel writes, adding, “But it is an axiom of human nature that giving some people power over others entails a risk that this power will be abused. And to this end, our laws generally require that those who wield governmental power do their work in the sunlight.”
Since the Department of Attorney General also represents the Michigan State Police in the lawsuit, the Department erected a conflict wall within the office to allow Nessel to take the contrary position.
Pointing out that the identities of private sector workers who are granted a license from the government — whether plumbers or attorneys — are routinely made public, Nessel argues that police officers must be held to the same standard.
“Making these names public serves goals of transparency, accountability, and protection of the public,” she writes. “Not only does it promote accountability among those who are licensed, it also protects the public from those who are not licensed in good standing.”
In January 2023, Metro Times and the Invisible Institute requested the names of all certified and uncertified officers in Michigan, along with information about their employment history. The information is held by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), which is housed within the MSP.
But in March 2023, MSP declined to provide the identities of the officers, arguing “the public disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy” that “would endanger the life and safety of the law enforcement officers and their families.”
The lawsuit to release the data was filed in November in the Michigan Court of Claims by the University of Michigan’s Civil Rights Litigation Initiative on behalf of Metro Times and Chicago-based nonprofit the Invisible Institute. MSP then filed a motion to dismiss the case.
In her brief, Nessel argues that “MSP has not made the required showing to justify withholding all names,” “has failed to show that disclosure of the requested records would endanger the safety of law enforcement officers,” and that refusing to release the names runs counter to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. The brief argues the Court should deny MSP’s motion to dismiss.
The refusal of MSP to release names makes it an outlier. At least 34 states have disclosed at least the names of certified officers to a coalition of news organizations as part of the national database project.
The Metro Times lawsuit was filed in support of its reporting on the full scope and impact of “wandering officers” in Michigan.
Last year, Metro Times launched an ongoing series about wandering cops in Michigan, which are officers who move from department to department amid allegations of misconduct. The problem has become more serious as police departments are pressured to lower their standards in the face of an officer shortage.
In October 2023, Metro Times revealed that the Detroit and Eastpointe police departments violated a 2017 law intended to prevent wandering officers by enabling a disgraced former cop to get a new job. Former Detroit cop Kairy Roberts landed the new job in Eastpointe last year, despite an internal investigation that found he had punched an unarmed man in the face in Greektown, failed to provide medical aid, and then lied about the encounter in August 2021.
In March, Metro Times showed that a Warren cop who retired while under investigation ended up at the Romeo Police Department, where he was fired after allegedly getting payback on a former boss by ticketing him for traffic offenses. The traffic tickets were later dismissed, and the stop led to a lawsuit.
Also in March, Metro Times revealed that the Warren Police Department offered to hide the details of an internal affairs investigation if a top-ranking official agreed to resign.
Both stories in March led to ongoing state investigations.
The full amicus brief is below.
