Lavish T. Williams - Candidate for Police Commissioner - District 2

1) Citizen complaints require timely and fair adjudication to build trust. What is your strategy to address this long-standing issue and expedite the resolution process?

Response: I agree I feel like the citizens have not been getting Complaints and issues resolved in a timely matter, even if there are complaints and issues that I cannot resolve communication is one of the biggest keys, which I feel is lacking. I plan to listen to complaints find out if and how I can resolve them push them to the people or department that might be able to further assist with the complaints get a understanding and at least communicate with the citizens and residence letting him know. Hey you have a police police commissioner that is working diligent Millie into fixing whatever issue or complaint you have While letting the resident know, you have not been forgotten about even if it’s something I can’t resolve getting back with the citizens in a timely matter, letting them know the other resources that might be available to help makes a big difference while letting them know someone is really looking and working for them

2) Binding arbitration, such as under Public Act 312, can influence disciplinary actions. What is your perspective on its impact on effective decision-making within the department?

Response: That’s a good question which I can’t answer at the moment. I think I would need more information and look at things from a case by case standpoint, but then also see how unions could can will step in and be a possible role block with certain decision making within a department.

3) Civilian oversight is essential for accountability, yet recent challenges—like unfilled positions and disqualifications—highlight gaps. For example, in one district, no one filed, and seven candidates were disqualified from various districts. Additionally, five of the districts will not have a primary, as there are only two candidates on the ballot.

How would you strengthen the efficacy of the elected Board of Police Commissioners and ensure robust civilian leadership?

Response: To strengthen I think it’s to make more people aware of this really going on so many times I’ve been asked what is the police commissioner is a police commissioner the chief of police and a lot of people just don’t know they don’t know how important disposition is can be how it affects the community so I feel as my job to go out here and be very verbal amongst the citizens and make them more aware of the board what they do who they are how they can help them and then get other younger people involved. I personally think it’s sad that no one is stepping up wanting or having the passion to fulfill these positions. I’ve heard people complain about Not being compensated as a elected official for the amount of work that has to be put in in the list can go on, but I only can focus on me and my goal which is to bring more awareness to the citizens and everyone around me.

Scotty Boman - Candidate for Police Commissioner - District 4

1) Citizen complaints require timely and fair adjudication to build trust. What is your strategy to address this long-standing issue and expedite the resolution process?

Response: The current backlog, some cases as old as three years, is unacceptable and undermines public confidence. Every complaint represents a Detroit resident who took the time to speak up. We owe them a timely, thorough, and transparent review process. As Police Commissioner, my first step will be to call for a full audit of the Office of the Chief Investigator (OCI) to determine the scope of the delay and identify operational choke points.

Next, I will push for an immediate budget review to prioritize resources for additional trained staff, modern case-tracking systems, and support for investigators. Speed should never come at the cost of quality, so I’ll work to ensure staff have the tools and training they need to be both efficient and fair. I’ll also advocate for public reporting on complaint resolution times, so the public can track progress, not just hear promises.

Other factors being equal, I’ll demand that we clear the oldest cases first. A complaint unresolved for years is justice denied. Timely and fair adjudication isn't just policy; it's a statement that civilian voices matter. I will ensure those voices are not buried in bureaucracy.

2) Binding arbitration, such as under Public Act 312, can influence disciplinary actions. What is your perspective on its impact on effective decision-making within the department?

Response: Binding arbitration under Public Act 312 can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it exists to protect the rights of public employees, including police officers. But when arbitration consistently results in overturned disciplinary decisions, especially in cases involving misconduct, it undermines the authority of civilian oversight and weakens the department’s ability to maintain accountability.

As Police Commissioner, I will push for greater transparency around arbitration outcomes and advocate for contract language that affirms the supremacy of the Detroit City Charter, as required by law. No contract should allow the Charter’s civilian oversight provisions to be undermined.

We need to work with unions in good faith, but we also need the public to have confidence that misconduct won’t be swept under the rug by a process they can’t see and don’t control. Arbitration should not be a backdoor for erasing disciplinary actions. I support efforts at the state and local level to reform binding arbitration in a way that respects due process but ensures real accountability.

In short, arbitration must be fair, but it cannot become a shield for repeat misconduct or a loophole that silences civilian oversight.

3) Civilian oversight is essential for accountability, yet recent challenges—like unfilled positions and disqualifications—highlight gaps. For example, in one district, no one filed, and seven candidates were disqualified from various districts. Additionally, five of the districts will not have a primary, as there are only two candidates on the ballot.

How would you strengthen the efficacy of the elected Board of Police Commissioners and ensure robust civilian leadership?

Response:

[Correction: District 6 is the only district that will have two candidates for Police commissioner on the ballot]

Civilian oversight only works if the Board of Police Commissioners is composed of engaged, independent, and informed members who reflect the communities they serve. The recent wave of disqualifications and potentially unfilled seats exposes systemic problems that must be addressed if we want effective leadership.

In districts where candidates failed to make the ballot they can still run as write-in candidates, so someone will almost certainly be elected to every seat. However, later filing deadlines would result in candidates since it is very difficult to petition in near freezing weather.

In the rare case in which nobody is elected, appointees can temporarily fill vacant elected seats until the next election. This ensures that residents never go unrepresented and that quorum issues don’t cripple the Board’s ability to function.

We must invest in public awareness and civic education so residents understand the power and responsibility of this office. Too few people know what the Police Commission does—yet it’s the primary mechanism for public accountability over law enforcement in Detroit.

We need Commissioners who are independent (not rubber stamps)and who show up, speak up, and stand up for their communities. I’ll continue doing just that, whether elected or not, but with your vote I’ll be doing it from the inside.

Garrett Burton - Candidate for Police Commissioner - District 6

1) Citizen complaints require timely and fair adjudication to build trust. What is your strategy to address this long-standing issue and expedite the resolution process?

Response: Since 2020, the Board of Police Commissioners has allowed thousands of complaints against police to go uninvestigated. That resident-complaint backlog is a crisis. As those complaints pile up, Detroiters lose trust in our police department, and in turn, the police department loses legitimacy. That makes us less safe: the backlog makes Detroiters less likely to report crimes or cooperate with police.

Taking care of the backlog should be the commission's first priority. To resolve the crisis, the commission should stem the flow of citizen complaints and investigate existing complaints more quickly. That means police officers need to be trained on our use-of-force procedures—and on how to treat citizens fairly. The commission should require officers to undergo procedural justice training to make sure that happens.

To work through existing complaints, the commission should prioritize investigations into repeat offenders. Criminologists have learned that a small number of officers commit the vast majority of misconduct. We should prioritize those repeat-offender complaints so that the worst offending officers aren't able to commit further misconduct. The commission should also work to expand the number of investigators, retain experienced investigators, and collaborate with outside experts to streamline the investigation process.

2) Binding arbitration, such as under Public Act 312, can influence disciplinary actions. What is your perspective on its impact on effective decision-making within the department?

Response: As a UAW member, I know just how important organized labor is to our city. At the same time, I recognize that binding arbitration can make it harder to discipline bad cops. That's why police commissioners must be certain that they're following all the rules when they're disciplining an officer.

Unfortunately, the commission has failed to do that. The office of inspector general investigated and found that the commission closed hundreds of complaints without properly investigating them. As a lawyer, I can make sure that doesn't happen in the future.

3) Civilian oversight is essential for accountability, yet recent challenges—like unfilled positions and disqualifications—highlight gaps. For example, in one district, no one filed, and seven candidates were disqualified from various districts. Additionally, five of the districts will not have a primary, as there are only two candidates on the ballot.

How would you strengthen the efficacy of the elected Board of Police Commissioners and ensure robust civilian leadership?

Response: To strengthen the Police Commission, we need to make it more accessible. That happens in two ways. First, it needs to be easier to be a police commissioner. It's an unpaid, volunteer position that meets during the day on Thursdays. I'm lucky because my job is flexible, but most people can't swing that time commitment. Second, in Detroit, it's hard to run for office. A lot of people pulled petitions to run for police commissioner, but signature-gathering requirements kept many would-be candidates from making the ballot. If someone hasn't run for office before, it's difficult to know how to identify in-district registered voters, have them sign your petition, and make sure their signature matches the qualified voter file. Without change, the police commission is missing out on a lot of smart, hardworking folks. If the police commission is going to get better, we have to rethink how the police commission operates and how people join the commission.

Lisa Carter - Candidate for Police Commissioner - District 6

1) Citizen complaints require timely and fair adjudication to build trust. What is your strategy to address this long-standing issue and expedite the resolution process?

Response: The board has been working to modernize and strengthen the citizen complaint process by investing in better case tracking and complaint management systems, ensuring the Office of the Chief Investigator is fully staffed and has the resources needed to meet deadlines and resolve cases expeditiously.

2) Binding arbitration, such as under Public Act 312, can influence disciplinary actions. What is your perspective on its impact on effective decision-making within the department?

Response: On binding arbitration—such as under Public Act 312—it’s clear that while it protects due process for officers, it can also limit the department’s ability to hold individuals accountable. I believe we must advocate for a balanced system—one that ensures fairness for officers while protecting the community’s right to expect high standards of conduct.

3) Civilian oversight is essential for accountability, yet recent challenges—like unfilled positions and disqualifications—highlight gaps. For example, in one district, no one filed, and seven candidates were disqualified from various districts. Additionally, five of the districts will not have a primary, as there are only two candidates on the ballot.

How would you strengthen the efficacy of the elected Board of Police Commissioners and ensure robust civilian leadership?

Response: Civilian oversight is essential—but it’s only effective if the Board itself is strong. Recent issues—like unfilled seats, disqualified candidates, and districts without primaries—are deeply concerning. To fix this, I support expanded public education about these roles, earlier candidate recruitment, and partnerships with community groups to identify strong local leaders. We must ensure that every district is represented by qualified, committed commissioners. I also support changing the meeting requirement from weekly to bi-weekly and increasing the monthly stipend police commissioners receive.

Victoria Camille - Candidate for Police Commissioner - District 7

1) Citizen complaints require timely and fair adjudication to build trust. What is your strategy to address this long-standing issue and expedite the resolution process?

Response: I’ll restore public trust by addressing these long-standing concerns as follows:

1) Timely investigations (60 days per Charter). As Commissioner, I will work with my colleagues and staff to use data to determine the average time it takes to complete a thorough citizen complaint investigation; forecast work volumes and staffing needs; set a realistic timeline for resolving the backlog; budget to properly staff OCI; and increase investigative staff through recruiting fairs and internship programs to bridge the gap for applicants lacking investigative background.

2) Fair adjudication/meaningful resolution. As Commissioner, I will partner with my colleagues, staff, and restorative justice experts to revise how OCI dispositions cases. “Preponderance of evidence” is the burden of proof required for Citizen Complaints (like in civil cases), which only requires just over a 50% likelihood that the alleged behavior occurred. Investigators must use all available evidence to determine if the preponderance of evidence supports the allegation. When an officer fails to capture body worn camera footage, that missing evidence should put more weight toward the likelihood that the behavior occurred. I will insist on transparency around sustained allegations, corrective actions, and influences on policy revisions. Even if policy is not broken, we must recognize and address the harm the complainant experienced and use restorative justice principles to repair that harm as much as possible.

2) Binding arbitration, such as under Public Act 312, can influence disciplinary actions. What is your perspective on its impact on effective decision-making within the department?

Response: Police hold a unique position in our municipal infrastructure. Police officers are prohibited from striking because of the public safety role they are assigned. Police are also unique in that, inherent in their training, equipment, and discretionary nature of their authority, they can instantly take a person’s civil liberties and their life. Our current laws and court system currently protect police from repercussions of harming people to the point that they almost have full immunity. Because of the unique nature of policing, discipline and disputes cannot be handled like other lower risk job types. They must be handled in a way that ensures police have the appropriate protection from unfair employment practices, while also protecting the public from harm and repeated harm by officers.

The department and the BOPC must gain and retain the authority to, when appropriate, remove and/or reassign officers that have harmed a person so that they are not able to cause harm again. Binding arbitration currently can overturn such decisions, which can put the public at risk. The department and the BOPC should make the decisions that are in the best interest of the public, despite the risk that an arbitrator may overturn. Then data must be collected to show if the arbitration decisions are driving more harm to the community. If so, that data needs to be used to lobby for legislation and collective bargaining agreement changes.

3) Civilian oversight is essential for accountability, yet recent challenges—like unfilled positions and disqualifications—highlight gaps. For example, in one district, no one filed, and seven candidates were disqualified from various districts. Additionally, five of the districts will not have a primary, as there are only two candidates on the ballot.

How would you strengthen the efficacy of the elected Board of Police Commissioners and ensure robust civilian leadership?

Response: There is a serious education gap in our communities about the BOPC’s existence, its role, and its potential and importance. Public participation in BOPC meetings is low. Until I requested it as the Secretary to the Board in 2023, the City’s website didn’t even publish Police Commissioners in the “It’s All Here" section of the main page where you can get information specific to your address.

The Police Commissioner role is volunteer but requires fulltime hours to do the job justice. That makes the office much less attractive to serious candidates compared to the full-time paid Mayor and City Council seats.

As Commissioner, I will work with my colleagues and staff to launch an aggressive public education campaign including mailings, door-to-door canvassing, email and text blasts, TV and radio, and presentations at high schools, colleges, and block club/neighborhood association meetings.

Once the public is better educated about the BOPC’s role, importance, and potential, I will work with my colleagues to hold focus groups with residents to talk about the barriers to the BOPC reaching its potential, and what actions Commissioners and other residents can take to remove those barriers. That could be petitioning support from the Mayor and City Council, legislation, and/or amendments to the City Charter. Together, with the residents of Detroit, we will build out a roadmap for strengthening civilian oversight of police in Detroit.