Injustice within the juvenile justice system evolved into the prime topic at Saturday’s CAP Talks forum, similar to state police misdeeds dominating the March meet.
State police declined an invite, saying their April 3 appearance at the City Council was their response, but this time the free flow turned to teens and young adults.
Testimonials to Community Alliance for the People ranged from violence toward teen suspects and lack of arrest warrants, to closing access for family members who aim to communicate with their children.
The grievances prompted Pastor Hurley J. Coleman Jr., World Outreach Campus, to assert, “This system is inflicting trauma (as a) new version of child slavery.”
CAP President Jeff Bulls opened with a presentation on the merits of community policing, but when he opened the floor at the half-hour mark, general stories poured forth, mostly regarding children and grandchildren. This was similar to the March scenario with state police in focus.
Some among the 50 participants called for “voting out” Prosecutor John McColgan, who like any district attorney oversees prosecution of juveniles. He is a Democrat who was unopposed in last November’s election, sweeping into his third term.
Contacted afterward, McColgan said, “CAP has never reached out to me. My door is and always has been open. What do they feel would be gained by voting me out?”
Bulls responded, “We are a 501c3 organization. CAP didn’t and cannot take the position to vote him out. We are an advocacy organization. We educate on what steps COULD be. When citizens speak of a broken system like they did today, we educate them on who’s in position to change it. That points to him. If the citizens feel like he hasn’t helped the situation, like any other elected official, he’s subject to the whims of voters. It’s that simple, but I’m happy that he extended the invitation to connect. I will be reaching out because we have some good ideas to connect on. I hope he’s receptive to them.”
CAP’s Denita Dorsey noted that six City Council seats will be open in the November election. They belong to Monique Lamar Silvia (a regular CAP attendee), Reggie Williams II, George Copeland, Michael Flores, Bill Ostash and Mayor Pro Tem Annie Boensch. In council office through 2026 are Michael Balls, Priscilla Gomez and Brenda Moore, whose second appointed term as mayor ends in 2024.
Dorsey was among five candidates to seek a council appointment for a recent vacancy, but members instead selected Ostash to return.
Bulls said community policing, based on the concept of an officer assigned to a regular neighborhood is “not a panacea, not the only solution” but can be a step toward improved relations, especially with minority citizens and young men. An example in Saginaw would be to look back upon Cal Nicholson and Ruben Daniels, the first two African American officers who began during the late 1940s. Today’s count is about one-third minority and/or women.
During a Latino Leaders LLEAD meeting on Thursday, a similar overall suggestion was proposed by Bobby DeLeon of the Mexican American Council, who spoke of young Latino men also stopped out of proportion.
Bulls made clear that he does not endorse more police officers, because social programs are No. 1 in combating crime. He proposes more community officers, and in effect all officers acting in a more community-oriented way.
During his opening presentation, Bulls also cited a Princeton University study of Chicago police that indicates white male officers are more likely to pursue apprehension and arrests than are white women or minority officers of either gender.
Saginaw’s longest-standing community officer, Jordan Bady, is a 2008 Saginaw High School grad who started in 2016 and was named Officer of the Year the following year. He is assigned to the city’s northeast section, along with three others in other quadrants, often in cooperation with Houghton-Jones and other neighborhood-based groups.
McColgan said, “I am a big fan of (Officer Bady) along with the rest of the officers who do an outstanding job for our citizens. My office recently charged a Michigan State Police trooper (Paul E. Arrowood from last year’s Annesley Street beating). I ask what CAP feels would be accomplished by voting me out of office?”
While supporting the concept of community policing, administrators have cited two challenges through the years. One is that Saginaw is so short-staffed the officers often must respond to major emergencies outside of their assigned areas. The other is that federal grants, such as those touted by President Biden, often require “matching” city funds that the Saginaw cannot afford.
The next CAP Talks is 1 p.m. Saturday, May 20, second floor of what soon will resume as the downtown farmer’s market.
The official City of Saginaw website now contains an undated, unsigned response to the policing issues that CAP has raised and can be viewed here.
