After much procedure, Ypsilanti City Council approved six mayoral re-appointments to city boards and committees Tuesday, including the two postponed from earlier...read more
Two of Ypsilanti's volunteer board members were not reappointed on schedule Tuesday night, owing to a 4-2 vote by City Council to delay the appointments until...read more
Three recently-vacated properties in downtown Ypsilanti, two of them condemned, will soon be renovated owing to recent purchase by a local development company and...read more
Residents living in the Liberty Square complex of townhouses will see a sticker appear on their homes Tuesday, when the Ypsilanti Township Building Department places...read more
New machines and equipment will soon be wheeled into Ford's Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti Township as it begins manufacturing a line of batteries for the new global...read more
The Ypsilanti Police Department is having labor attorneys look into a policy adopted in October that sets a minimum standard of tickets issued by officers.
The move was made after a letter was issued by the Police Officers Association of Michigan, the bargaining unit for Ypsilanti police officers, calling attention to the matter.
The letter was written and signed by Douglas Gutscher, assistant general counsel for POAM, on April 7. On Monday Gutscher confirmed he had sent the letter.
Ypsilanti Police Chief Matt Harshberger said the department started expecting its officers to issue at least 30 tickets every month. He said the department had been issuing an average of 100 tickets a month before that, a figure he called “a dismal, lackluster effort.
“We feel we’re taking a just action,” Harshberger said. “We have a responsibility for traffic enforcement.”
In his letter, Gutscher said, “Your policy puts (officers) in the unenviable position of potentially violating a citizen’s right in order to insure their own employment.”
The letter points to a section of the Michigan Vehicle Code that prohibits the use of citation minimums as a sole means of evaluating police performance.
Ypsilanti resident Lee Tooson addressed the issue during the public comment section of the City Council meeting Tuesday.
“For sometime now I’ve watched the police officers writing a lot of tickets,” Tooson said. “We’ve got too many things for these police officers to do than to go out filing quotas.”
Tooson called the police administration “corrupt” and condemned issuing tickets for violations such as items hanging from rearview mirrors and tinted windows.
After Tooson’s comments, Mayor Paul Schreiber said he didn’t believe the department was using quotas. City Manager Ed Koryzno confirmed Schreiber’s statement.
“I have not had any inclining of any corruption in the police department,” Schreiber said.
Harshberger said the ticket minimum is a part of the entire evaluation process, and there are other factors used to determine an officer’s performance.
“Officers are required to use common sense,” Harshberger said. “There are more than enough hazardous offenses to enforce.”
He said the minimum was set to enforce violations such as speeding and other traffic control laws. He said it was not intended for “minor offenses.”
The letter issued by POAM states, “We have not been made aware of any proposed change in the performance evaluation system for our members.”
The letter goes on to say, “If the city intends to incorporate such policy into a performance evaluation plan, POAM demands bargaining over the issue.”
However, the letter calls the minimum a “stand alone policy” and “contrary to state law.”
Harshberger said the policy is being reviewed by Detroit-based law firm Keller Thoma, and he is preparing a packet of information to present to the attorneys for review.