Time, place set for hearings on allegations of racial discrimination by Grand Rapids police

Grand Rapids police car

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Michigan Department of Civil Rights has confirmed the time and place of its two “fact-finding" hearings next Thursday pertaining to allegations of racial discrimination by Grand Rapids police.

The venue for both hearings on Thursday, March 28, is the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP, located at 1530 Madison Ave. SE.

The first session begins at 1 p.m. and runs until 4 p.m. The second session runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The department wants to hear from residents on their interactions with the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The state department is also accepting electronic comments submitted between 1 p.m. March 21 and 1 p.m. April 4. The comments must include a name, address and telephone number or email address. The comments should be mailed to MoffitG@Michigan.gov.

The hearings were prompted by two controversial arrest videos of black and Latino people and “recurring” allegations of racial discrimination against the department, state department officials previously said.

In one of the videos, a city officer is seen punching a black man in the thigh up to 30 times to force his compliance. In the other, an officer is seen holding two Latino teens at gunpoint after they repeatedly refused to show their hands when demanded. The officer stopped the teens for walking in the street.

“We are present because of the two recent videos as well as other such events from the past 18 months. Each of these instances are disturbing and should not be happening,” said Agustin V. Arbulu, director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. “We want to hear more from the community and assess what our next steps may be as it relates to the ongoing issues between communities of color and the Grand Rapids Police Department. Following these hearings, the department staff will determine our next steps.”

If an investigation is launched, civil rights department officials would research incidents, talk to the parties involved, compile their findings and come to a conclusion on whether the Grand Rapids Police Department is in violation of the Michigan’s anti-discrimination law, the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

The civil rights department can compel the police department to take part in further training and/or pay monetary fines and damages, should its eight-member commission rule the department violated the act.

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