Citizens decry violence, police actions in emotional accounts of Kalamazoo summer protests
Updated Jan 11, 2021;
Posted Jan 11, 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
Facebook Share
KALAMAZOO, MI During a virtual listening session held Monday, Jan. 11, citizens shared stories and eyewitness accounts of people being tear gassed and pepper sprayed by police officers this summer in Kalamazoo.
2020 was a year of protests, police and change in Kalamazoo
Updated Dec 30, 2020;
Posted Dec 30, 2020
2020 in Kalamazoo was a year marked with protests, change and deeper looks at race, policy and those who lead. (Joel Bissell | MLive)
Facebook Share
KALAMAZOO, MI Kalamazoo in 2020 mirrored much of what was going on across the nation.
The varying affects of the coronavirus pandemic. Protests. A deeper look at racism in America. Contention in the political sphere. And changes in leadership.
After a relatively quiet start to the year, and almost eerie silence on the streets brought on by two months of COVID-driven shutdowns, things changed drastically again after George Floyd was killed May 25 by a Minneapolis police officer as two fellow officers stood by.
Commissioners learned police chief was fired months after the fact
Updated Jan 19, 2021;
Posted Dec 23, 2020
After 23 years with the department, Karianne Thomas is set to be sworn in as the sixth chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. Police and firefighters have been a combine, cross trained department since 1982. Photo taken in December of 2017. (MLive.com file photo)
Facebook Share
KALAMAZOO, MI Two Kalamazoo City Commissioners said they only found out that Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas was fired through an email they received from city administration sent hours before a news article revealed the truth to the public.
Commissioner Chris Praedel said he found out the chief was terminated without cause from an email the city manager’s office sent to members of the Kalamazoo City Commission at 10:29 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Kalamazoo city manager apologizes for not disclosing that police chief was fired
Updated Dec 21, 2020;
Posted Dec 21, 2020
Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema listens as community activists ask question 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
Facebook Share
KALAMAZOO, MI Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema apologized to the community for how his office withheld key information about former chief of public safety Karianne Thomas’s separation from the city.
Karianne Thomas was fired, the Kalamazoo Gazette confirmed in a story published in December, months after she left her position as public safety chief.
Dec 22, 2020
KALAMAZOO (WOOD-AM) - The city manager of Kalamazoo apologized during a commission meeting last night for not disclosing the firing of the city s public safety chief.
Jim Ritsema said the decision was in the best interest of the city.
It was announced over the summer that Karianne Thomas would step down, with a statement to the press noting that she was eligible for retirement after nearly three decades with the department.
Thomas will get a year of her $150,000 salary as severance.