State Police give Detroit the finger [[again)

[jt1]

State Police scale back plans that were committed for the new DPD HQ

http://detnews.com/article/20110418/...roit-crime-lab

They are diverting the funding to the State Police Crime Lab in Northville. As a taxpayer of the city of Detroit and State of Michigan I'm fed up with subsidizing the State Police to patrol rural areas that can't afford their own police [[mild sarcasm intended).

It's one thing to not do this but another to not do it after committing to doing so then diverting the money to a facility in Northville. I lose repsect for the MSP administration every day.

[1KielsonDrive]

Snyder!!!!

[jt1]

Snyder!!!!

I don't believe this falls on Snyder but the MSP administration. It appears they are still going to spend some or all of the money but move it to their facility in Northville. Once again they are proving that they are not interested in doing much for the citizens of the city of Detroit.

Next time I see a speedtrap set up on a freeway in the city I'll stop and thank them for all they are doing for the city.

The link to contact MSP is: http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7...2600--,00.html

[Buy American]

Republicans...Snyder!!!

[ndavies]

Sorry, I don't give a shit as to where the MSP have their crime lab. All I care about is that they do the job they're tasked with. Does it put the people in Jail who need/deserve to be there? Do they do it in the most cost effective manor? Other than that it really doesn't matter where they are.

Why go to the expense of creating another facility it the one we already have can handle the work load?

It's these regional pissing contests that have helped place the state in the economic disaster it's in.

[mikefmich]

State Police scale back plans that were committed for the new DPD HQ

http://detnews.com/article/20110418/...roit-crime-lab

They are diverting the funding to the State Police Crime Lab in Northville. As a taxpayer of the city of Detroit and State of Michigan I'm fed up with subsidizing the State Police to patrol rural areas that can't afford their own police [[mild sarcasm intended).

It's one thing to not do this but another to not do it after committing to doing so then diverting the money to a facility in Northville. I lose repsect for the MSP administration every day.

Ya know.....the SP have been there to patrol rural areas forever and ever, and were not created for the city of Detroit. I don't know why you think the SP owe the city.

[jt1]

Ya know.....the SP have been there to patrol rural areas forever and ever, and were not created for the city of Detroit. I don't know why you think the SP owe the city.

Then let the rural areas pay for it. It's funny that people are up in arms whenever Detroit gets services or money at the State level but it is fine for the entire state to subsidize the rural areas.

[Ray1936]

Let the county sheriff's departments do the rural policing -- as they do! Eliminate the State Police entirely except for support services ..... and that does not include patrol.

[JBMcB]

Why does the city of Detroit need a crime lab in the city proper? The city was unable to operate their own - I believe the phrase used was "shocking level of incompetence."

Crime labs should be as independent as possible. Putting a crime lab in the same building as the police HQ is a bad idea all around. It's bad enough that they get their funding by the organization doing the prosecution.

[drjeff]

Why does the city of Detroit need a crime lab in the city proper? The city was unable to operate their own - I believe the phrase used was "shocking level of incompetence."

Crime labs should be as independent as possible. Putting a crime lab in the same building as the police HQ is a bad idea all around. It's bad enough that they get their funding by the organization doing the prosecution.

If they had a decent crime lab that worked in the city it would be a big deal. Unlike TV shows in which they magically generate DNA evidence in minutes, sending stuff to the state crime lab takes many months before results come back. It seems pretty stupid and inefficient to have the entire state of Michigan dependent on one lab for analysis of everything.

[Mikeg]

Now that the MSP troopers are doing forensic analysis during routine traffic stops, there's less need for crime lab space!

Should Cops Be Allowed to Scan Your Phone During a Traffic Stop?

In Michigan, the American Civil Liberties Union [[ACLU) has filed a complaint alleging that Michigan State Police officers used forensic cellphone analyzers to snoop in drivers' cellphones during routine traffic stops. PM talked to a Fourth Amendment expert to sort through whether that amendment's protections against illegal search and seizure should stop an officer from scanning your phone.

Are cops allowed to snoop through your cellphone during an ordinary traffic stop? According to an American Civil Liberties Union [[ACLU) letter to the director of the Michigan State Police on April 13, that department has several forensic cellphone analyzers deployed in the field. Forensic analyzers are routinely used in police investigations to recover data from computers and other digital devices. Lately, cellphones have become valuable sources of evidence for police, since one phone can include almost all of an individual's private communications [[SMS, recently dialed numbers, email, Facebook and Twitter posts) as well as location data from the device's GPS unit. The device used by the Michigan State Police is a portable forensic system called the Cellebrite UFED that can suck data from a variety of devices, including multiple Android phones and Apple iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. The company did not immediately return phone calls, but according to Cellebrite's product description, the UFED can grab email, Web bookmarks, Web history, SIM data, cookies, notes, MMS, instant messages, Bluetooth devices, locations, journeys, GPS fixes, call logs, text messages, contacts and more.

This type of forensic device is nothing new, but the ACLU's concern is that the UFED mobile units might have been used in routine traffic stops—which, the ACLU contends, would violate the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Read more: Law Enforcement Smartphone Forensics - American Civil Liberties Union - Popular Mechanics

[lilpup]

Then let the rural areas pay for it. It's funny that people are up in arms whenever Detroit gets services or money at the State level but it is fine for the entire state to subsidize the rural areas.

The vast majority of the state is rural areas and I imagine more state tax money comes from outside the City of Detroit than inside, so if anything Detroit needs to repay some of the excess $$ it's usurped and allowed to be pissed away on corrupt activities over the decades.

[lilpup]

If they had a decent crime lab that worked in the city it would be a big deal. Unlike TV shows in which they magically generate DNA evidence in minutes, sending stuff to the state crime lab takes many months before results come back. It seems pretty stupid and inefficient to have the entire state of Michigan dependent on one lab for analysis of everything.

Well, there USED TO BE more than one lab in the state but somebody fucked it up...

[ferntruth]

Let the county sheriff's departments do the rural policing -- as they do! Eliminate the State Police entirely except for support services ..... and that does not include patrol.

I agree completely, Ray! I never understood why we even need the SP since we already have County Sheriffs.

[ndavies]

If they had a decent crime lab that worked in the city it would be a big deal. Unlike TV shows in which they magically generate DNA evidence in minutes, sending stuff to the state crime lab takes many months before results come back. It seems pretty stupid and inefficient to have the entire state of Michigan dependent on one lab for analysis of everything.

You're confusing the labs distance away with the throughput of the lab. The distance away has absolutely nothing to do with how long the lab takes to process the evidence. The lab could be across the hall and it would still take months to get it though the lab. [[Just tlike the city lab that was shutdown.) If the lab doesn't have the capacity to handle the workload, moving it closer won't change anything. Having multiple labs with the same total number of people only makes things worse.

Centralizing should lead to efficiencies. You no longer need multiple departments doing the same tasks. Quality control becomes a much simpler process if you have only one lab.

[maxx]

If the police are going to be working out of their cars, that implies that their cars will have a lot more equipment. I sure wouldn't want one of those cars stolen.

[I've had to log in every time I post today. What is going on?]

[birwood]

Actually MSP never had a presence in Detroit till the mid 70's when the late Mayor Young eliminated DPD's Motor Traffic Bureau, who's main job it was to patrol the cities Freeways and handle all Traffic Control problems as needed. MSP-Detroit Post was originally at 7 Mile and Grand River and they patrolled areas like,old the Grand River I-96 to Brighton, Northville, Plymouth, Van Buren Twp, etc and from what some of my DPD friends said their presence caused some bad blood between DPD and MSP [[Ray 1936..Jump in here). When the Mayor eliminated that unit in a ecomomy move, citing that the freeways were state owned roads, maintained by the county and that they should be the ones to patrol them, When sudden rash of violent crimes tookplace, the Wayne County Sheriff,at that time, Bill Lucas, failed to act quick enough, and Governor Millikin ordered MSP into the city to patrol the freeways. MSP was only to be a Freeway Patrol, I believe the original sign downtown said Detroit Freeway Patrol Post, then over the years their presence morphed into other involvement in policing the city as did the Wayne County Sheriff.

[Ray1936]

Your recollection matches mine quite well, Birwood. My only correction would be to the line, "when the late Mayor Young eliminated DPD's Motor Traffic Bureau......" etc., he didn't eliminate the Motor Traffic Bureau, just the freeway patrol segment of it, or about 10% of the MTB's manpower. Motor continued on for some years mostly on motorcycles [[cars in inclement weather), and a few radar units.

It wasn't until about ten years later that MTB was disbanded as a unit, with officers instead being assigned to traffic duties in the various precincts.

I wouldn't say there was any 'bad blood' between DPD and MSP, but most Detroit cops echoed the words of Donald Sutherland in "The Dirty Dozen" when, as a 'general', he inspected some troops and said, "Very pretty, very pretty. But can they fight?"

[East Detroit]

Considering that the MSP actually go to military style boot camp and stay in shape, versus many of the donut eating local yokels, I would say that they can fight. No surprise that a city cop, or retiree, would have a problem with them as they are called in to fill the gaps that city police leave and more importantly are called in to investigate criminal activity in cities where the local police are either involved or can not be trusted to work without bias.

[9mile&seneca]

Let the county sheriff's departments do the rural policing -- as they do! Eliminate the State Police entirely except for support services ..... and that does not include patrol.

Amen, Ray. when a citizen dials 911 they don't get a state trooper, they get a cop. All troopers do is sit in the medians of interstates and clock people on radar.

[artds]

Lmao @ the characterization of Northville as a "rural area".

Some of you seriously need to get out of your bubble more.

[birwood]

artds...Yeah I know Northville as "rural" hard to believe but I don't know how old you are but I'm 62 and I can remember when Haggarty was a dirt road in places as was parts of 7 mile.

[jt1]

Lmao @ the characterization of Northville as a "rural area".

Some of you seriously need to get out of your bubble more.

artds - Just for clarification:

There are two separate items being discussed that I may not have been clear about:

1. The MSP reneged on their agreement with DPD and are instead adding capabilities to their facility in Northville.

2. I question why the entire state subsidizes MSP which primarily services rural areas thorughout the state. I was not stating that Northville is rural but MSP is the primary source of law enforcement in many rural communities.

[Malcove Magnesia]

Just a quick anecdote: I spent the weekend cruising around downtown Detroit and saw more Michigan State police cruisers and cars than ever before, and certainly more MSP on the streets than I saw of Detroit Police. MSP must do a pretty brisk business [[in terms of tickets and law enforcement) here.

[hamtown mike]

this is why we have snowmobiles zipping up the lodge.