By George Hunter
The Detroit News
DETROIT — Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee, faced with the prospect of fewer officers because of the city’s financial crisis, has taken the rare step of implementing a special order requiring anyone applying for a job with the Police Department to first serve as a volunteer reserve.
The city’s 2012-13 budget, which takes effect when the fiscal year begins on July 1, will slash $75 million — or 18 percent — from the police department’s $414 million budget, resulting in the elimination of 380 positions from the force of about 2,600 through attrition and early retirement.
Godbee last month signed the order requiring job candidates to serve in the Detroit Police Reserves until the department begins hiring again. The initiative, called the Enhanced Reserve Program, will free up sworn officers to respond to more serious runs, Godbee said.
“This gives me an additional pool of people I can tap,” Godbee said. “There were about 1,400 people who expressed interest in becoming a Detroit police officer last year. By having them join the reserves, we can do some moderate screening of them to see if they’re fit for Detroit police service, and give them an opportunity to be part of our organization.”
Reservists will help out with special details like traffic control, and conduct foot patrols, Godbee said. “They carry weapons; they have arrest powers — they’re deputized for lack of a better term. At this point, we have to leverage everything we can.”
According to the city charter, the police chief may impose minor policy changes by issuing a teletype, or a memo that’s distributed throughout the Police Department. The next step is to issue a special order.
“Special orders are for major policy changes,” Godbee said. “It gives me power as chief to impose certain things for up to a year, because operationally, you might not always have the opportunity to wait for the full vetting cycle, and increasing our reserve force is an immediate need.”
The order must be approved by the Board of Police Commissioners to become permanent policy. The Police Department’s secondary employment program, which allows officers to moonlight in uniform, also started with a special order.
Reserve numbers plunged
A new class of 30 recruits starts June 26, Godbee said, the first since 2009. The reservists are trained at the Detroit Police Academy by the same officers who train police recruits.
Reserve training consists of two evenings a week for 14 weeks, plus two full weekends of firearm training, said Henry Dodge, commander of the Detroit Police Reserves.
“During the firearms training, we’re taught how to shoot at the firing range, and we’re taught the legality of the use of firearms and deadly force,” Dodge said. “Personally, I’ve never had to draw my weapon, and I hope I don’t have to. But there are cases where reservists have had to use their firearms. One time, a reservist was helping out officers on the east side, and he got shot in the leg. So it can be dangerous.”
Another aspect of the program is to allow retired officers to serve as reservists, which will enable them to remain certified as police officers. The state certification would otherwise expire after two years of inactivity.
“Some officers who have left the department may want to maintain their certification as law enforcement officers, but don’t want to do it full time anymore,” Godbee said. “That’s another group of experienced people we can tap.”
The Detroit Police Reserves program, established in 1942, has seen its numbers plunge from about 2,200 volunteers in the 1960s and 1970s, to its current roster of about 300. And the makeup of the organization has drastically changed, said Dodge, 86, who joined the reserves in May 1967, making him the longest-serving reservist on the force.
“We used to have a lot more ex-police officers than we do now,” said Dodge, a retired engineer.
Dodge joined the reserves three months before Detroit erupted in what was then the worst riot in U.S. history.
“I started right before everything blew up,” Dodge said. “During the riot, we conveyed prisoners; provided food and materials for police officers, and closed off the freeways. Then, when the State Police and National Guard came in, we acted as sort of tour guides, because they weren’t familiar with the streets. It was quite an experience.”
‘We must be proactive’
Godbee — who has emphasized community policing since he was named chief two years ago — also has reached out to community patrol groups to help beef up patrols.
He recently integrated community patrols in the northwest-side Grandmont-Rosedale section of Detroit as part of a 90-day pilot program in conjunction with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which aims to curb home invasions.
Before implementing the program on June 4, Godbee met with community leaders to get their input. The initiative relies heavily on citizens to report crimes.
Muhsin Muhammad, president of Grandmont Patrol, a group of about 130 volunteers who make regular rounds in the Grandmont-Rosedale neighborhood on the city’s northwest side, said he talks to Godbee often.
“It’s all about having a network,” said Muhammad, a retired General Motors manager who has stopped burglaries, recorded video of car thieves that resulted in convictions, and, last week, chased away a man performing a sex act in a park.
“The point is, you’re not safe if you’re not proactive. We must be proactive,” he said. “Criminals don’t want to be seen, so when they see us, they leave.”
The Detroit 300, a patrol group formed two years ago after a 90-year-old woman was raped in her home, has seen its ranks swell in recent months, said co-founder Angelo Henderson.
“Crime has been increasing our numbers, but we’d rather live in a safe place and not have to deal with all this,” Henderson said. “But people are tired of crime, and are looking for options, and they’re turning to the Detroit 300.”
Two men, one of whom was a Detroit 300 volunteer, were arrested last week and charged with impersonating a police officer and brandishing a weapon after allegedly entering an occupied home wearing bulletproof vests and carrying pistols.
Henderson said volunteers sign statements promising not to go outside the law during patrols.
“That’s not something our group does,” he said. “We’re just supposed to patrol and help out the police.”
Copyright 2012 The Detroit News