July 24, 2009


Feds' police monitor quits, cites 'personal' ties with Kilpatrick

By DAVID ASHENFELTER AND JOE SWICKARD
Free Press Staff Writers Sheryl Robinson Wood, the federal monitor for the Detroit Police Department’s consent decree with the Department of Justice, resigned Thursday because of “meetings of a personal nature” with former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

U.S. District Judge Julian Cook issued an order today accepting her resignation.
•PDF: Read the judge's order.
The order said Wood had “engaged in conduct which was totally inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the two consent judgments in this litigation.” He said she had “engaged in undisclosed communications, as well as meetings of a personal nature, with the former City of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick during the term of the consent judgments, which included inappropriate discussions with him about this lawsuit.”

Cook, who is overseeing the police department's consent decree, said he reviewed documents in secret during a July 22 status conference in the case that prompted him to ask Wood about her ability to remain effective.

After a phone call with Wood, and based on a review of the documents, Cook accepted her resignation effective 5 p.m. Thursday.

The order Cook issued today suspended all court monitoring of the department and ordered the city and the Justice Department to submit names of prospective replacements by July 31.

There was no immediate comment from Wood, the Justice Department or city officials.

The Detroit Police Department has been under federal oversight since 2003 when the city signed two agreements with the Justice Department’s civil rights division over questionable shootings of civilians, illegal dragnet arrests and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Most of the changes the police department agreed to have not been fulfilled.
Former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer requested a federal review of the department after a series of stories in the Free Press.
Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER: dashenfelter@freepress.com







Reminds me of that 2Pac song. "I get around."