Criticism of Kalamazoo police actions during summer protest continues at second ‘listening session’
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
Posted Jan 26, 2021
Protestors stand in a wall of tear gas in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. After 35 to 40 minutes of reasoning with the police after violating curfew crowds were dispersed using CS gas and mace pellets. The City of Kalamazoo imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3 after late night vandalism.Joel Bissell
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KALAMAZOO, MI Residents and activists involved in summer protests in Kalamazoo had more criticism for police Monday, during the second of two listening sessions hosted by a firm hired to complete an independent investigation of the police response to those events in 2020.
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Jan 25, 2021 8:37 PM
OIR Group meets with Kalamazoo citizens virtually on Monday, January 25, 2021. (Photo courtesy of City of Kalamazoo YouTube page via Zoom meeting).
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) Monday, the California-based OIR group held its second public input session regarding the response of Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) officers to protests held over the summer.
During this virtual meeting, citizens were offered the opportunity to speak in a public medium to voice their concerns and testimony. This was the second of two planned virtual sessions to collect information, with the first taking place earlier in January.
Kalamazoo leaders seek investigation of former public safety chief’s departure
Updated Jan 20, 2021;
Posted Jan 20, 2021
Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas apologizes for the arrest of MLive Reporter Samuel Robinson at a protest on Saturday during a press conference at City Hall in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. The press conference was held after protestors and counter protestors clashed in downtown Kalamazoo on Saturday, Aug. 15. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com
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KALAMAZOO, MI The Kalamazoo City Commission will talk about investigating the departure of the city’s former public safety chief, who city officials said “retired” in September. An investigation by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette later revealed former Chief Karianne Thomas was actually fired.
The proposed budget includes spending that’s about 5% higher than last year.
And it includes more than $32 million for the Public Safety Department. That’s only slightly less than than year before, despite loud calls for defunding the department.
David Benac is one resident who spoke out against the Public Safety Department budget during a hearing earlier this month.
“It’s a department that is so deeply flawed the city had to fire the chief and then hide that it was fired and make excuses,” Benac said.
Former Kalamazoo public safety chief Karianne Thomas was fired in September, following the department’s response to a violent demonstration by a far-right hate group in the city.
‘I’m being led by my heart,’ new Kalamazoo police chief says
Updated Jan 18, 2021;
KALAMAZOO, MI Three months ago, Vernon Coakley Jr. took over as chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
Replacing his predecessor who was fired, and taking the leadership role amid community outrage over police actions during the summer, the task Coakley inherited did not come without challenges. But the veteran police officer said he is confident, with his experience and support from others in the department, he has what it takes to take the department in the right direction.
“I was built and ready to do this,” Coakley said during a Jan. 13 virtual interview with MLive. “I had people that mentored me before, and I’m thankful for them. Along the way, as I went through this 28 years, I got to say I wasn’t thinking of sitting in this seat. But 28 years prepared me for when this opportunity came along that I was ready to sit in this seat.”