Heavily armed police add to tensions and inhibit progress, advocates say – MLive.com

Rasheed Jeffries, who participated in several recent police brutality demonstrations in Michigan, saw firsthand the confrontations between protesters and officers equipped with riot gear.

Coming with tanks and things does not deescalate, but escalates emotions, Jeffries said. "They are triggering things.

While there were no reports of actual tanks being used by police, The Detroit-area man says the sight of armored vehicles and the heavily armed police lines may have instigated the vandalism seen in some cities, rather than preventing it.

In the wake of George Floyds death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, there have been calls to defund police departments across the nation and rebuild public safety services from the ground up.

Related: What defund the police means to advocates in Michigan

As advocates rally in large numbers to protest police brutality and demand change, they are often met by lines of police officers and, in some cases, Michigan National Guard troops, dressed in riot gear and armed with large batons, pepper spray and tear gas.

While many police officials view the equipment as essential tools needed to keep the peace, others are arguing just the opposite -- that militarized police may escalate confrontations between protesters and police.

Parris McMurray, of Grand Rapids, believes wholesale defunding of police departments is not the best move. However, he is confident that demilitarizing would help reduce tensions between community members and police.

Why are we using those funds to militarize it? McMurray asked. We need them to be able to understand how to serve black people. Funding should go toward training, mentality and psychology for their jobs and to put different regulations in place to hold them accountable.

McMurray, 33, participated in recent protests in Grand Rapids, and said when police confront protesters with the military-style gear and weapons, it halts an important conversation that protesters are trying to start.

Like many other protesters that have marched and demonstrated in Michigan and across the nation, McMurray is advocating for more closely monitored police departments with better policies in place.

The militarys whole function is to protect this country by shooting and killing the enemy, he said. They are not for domestic.

Jeffries, 48, serves as a minister at Embassy Covenant Church in Walled Lake, near Detroit, and was part of several recent protests, including demonstrations held in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Southfield, Novi and elsewhere in Michigan. Though Jeffries also voiced opposition to totally defunding the police, he questions the seemingly blurred line between military tactics and equipment and those of police.

Each protest Jeffries attended was peaceful. Though he commends police for protecting protesters despite being the target of their ire, the minister still questions the impact of the equipment and tactics being employed during demonstrations in places like Detroit.

At a protest, not a riot, the end goal of the protesters is that their voices be heard, Jeffries said. There should be a sense of open ears and providing a platform for listening."

Though he commends police for protecting protesters despite being the target of their ire, Jeffries still questions the impact of the equipment and tactics being employed during demonstrations in places like Detroit.

Related: Detroit George Floyd police brutality protest turns violent as police fire tear gas, rubber bullets

Though police agencies have long operated under a paramilitary structure, the acquisition of surplus military equipment by departments in Michigan and nationwide is a relatively newer development.

Since about 1990, police have been able to acquire surplus items from the federal government through the 1033 Program at no cost to the local departments. But it was not until late 2014 that the Pentagon began releasing detailed information about the surplus items going to police agencies across the nation.

Between 1997 to 2014, the Department of Defense transferred $4.3 billion in military equipment to local law agencies, according to a report from PBS News Hour. A study on the topic, published in 2018 in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, also found that the image alone of militarized units being used by local police can affect public confidence in departments and raise concerns about their funding.

The American Civil Liberties Union and others have also raised concerns in the past about police using surplus military-style and SWAT vehicles for seemingly routine operations.

Saginaw Police Chief Bob Ruth said demilitarization is not as easy as it sounds, since police departments are paramilitary structures by design.

We are not military, but the officers take orders, said Ruth, who also questioned potential consequences of calls to defund police.

You got to have police, he said. "You got to have someone there when someone is getting shot at or robbed. When somebody kills someone, you got to have someone there to find the murderer.

The city chiefs view that demilitarizing police is easier said than done is shared by Buena Vista Township Police Chief Reginald Williams II. Williams previously served as a police officer under Ruth in Saginaw, and has worked for more than 21 years in law enforcement.

I can understand why people feel the way they do, but they have to understand that we are a paramilitary entity, Williams said. We are going to have similar equipment. But that doesnt mean that we operate like them.

Protests have taken place in communities across the nation in recent weeks, in reaction to George Floyds death in Minneapolis. Some community activists are calling for more control of police protocols, and even the wholesale defunding of departments. Many see the military-style equipment as an issue as well.

Daja Johnson, 24, who lives in Kalamazoo, said she could not believe what she witnessed during a recent protest in her hometown.

Crowds of people were laying flat in front of officers and they (officers) just doused them with tear gas, Johnson said. They didnt pose no threat. It was wild.

Johnson took up the microphone to share some of her thoughts as a spoken word performance during a Black Lives Mater vigil in Battle Creek.

Some who witnessed the June 1 protests in Kalamazoo have suggested that when police arrested a protester on unrelated felony drug warrants during that evenings demonstration it may have instigated the chaotic and destructive night that followed.

Related: Arrest of protester ignited unrest Monday night in Kalamazoo, some say

There, the city recently announced plans to hire an outsider investigator to scrutinize the police response to protests, including officers use of tear gas.

Elsewhere, cities are discussing police policies and other changes. In Grand Rapids, city officials plan to add an explicit ban on chokeholds to an existing use of force policy and, in Ann Arbor, city officials are considering a comprehensive review of the current system as well as instituting better citizen oversight.

Johnson said that she is not in favor of defunding police departments. Rather, she is in favor of them being held more accountable when interacting with the public.

I believe we should have police departments, Johnson said, But I feel like they are here to serve and protect us. Its like they are not serving us. They are doing more harm. I feel like some of the choices that are being made are not some of the best choices. They should be here for us and not against us.

Paramilitary organizations like police agencies follow a chain of command similar to the military. Like many other departments across the state, both Saginaw and Buena Vista have military-style vehicles, like bullet-proof Humvees, and say they are used for a variety of special situations.

We use the armored vehicles in those situations, Ruth said, referring to hostage situations and standoffs, but said it can serve other purposes as well.

It is a rescue vehicle, he said. "We utilized it several times in shooting situations.

The Oakland County Sheriffs department has been one of the biggest recipients of gear through the 1033 program in Michigan, getting an armored personnel carrier, 250 pairs of night-vision goggles, six sets of body armor and six utility trucks. Between 1999 and 2015, it had received more than 7,000 items with an original value totaling nearly $4.8 million, according to a quarterly report from the Defense Logistics Agency program.

The Michigan State Police got a $3.1 million airplane in 2013. The Allegan County Sheriffs Department picked up a mine-resistant vehicle from a Detroit military office in late 2013, then deputies drove it to Allegan. In 2014, the Tuscola County Sheriffs Department obtained a Humvee through the program.

Related: Michigan police bulk up with military surplus - armored trucks, grenade launchers

In West Michigan, the most expensive and noticeable items snagged by police agencies are Humvees and the more hulking mine-resistant ambush protected, or MRAP, vehicles.

Muskegon Countys sheriff said in 2014 that MRAP vehicles are considered just another tool for the sheriffs office to use during incidents of barricaded gunmen or dangerous, volatile situations where it isnt safe for officers to approach. Elsewhere on the Lake Michigan shoreline, Holland rolled out a military surplus Desert Storm Humvee as the latest addition to its fleet in 2013.

Saginaws Chief Ruth said the vehicles are just one example of much-needed gear that help police do their jobs.

Three weeks ago, we used our vehicle in the flood, and we rescued 50 people in Saginaw County, Ruth said, referencing recent catastrophic flooding in Midland County that affected nearby counties as well.

For Saginaw, looming in the background of discussions of police brutality is the 2012 fatal shooting of Milton Hall by police.

Hall was a mentally ill man with a knife who was shot 11 times by officers and killed on July 1, 2012. Police officers surrounded Hall while wearing tactical gear and using military-style weapons. The shooting sparked outcry from the community.

The department has seen an overhaul of its policies and culture in the eight years since, said Ruth, who has been an officer in Saginaw for 26 years and the citys police chief for six years.

We did a total policy review, and we changed just about every policy within the department to make it more user-friendly within the community, Ruth said. Training is the most important thing that we can do in a police department. We conducted cultural diversity training, cultural competency training; we even trained on Bridges Out of Poverty.