Rise in Attacks on Mich. Police Reflects Dangerous National Trend

DETROIT — Interactions between police officers and citizens in Michigan and across the country are more contentious than ever, statistics show, with the animus often resulting in the destruction of property, injury or death.

Arrests for assaults on municipal police officers in Michigan reached an all-time high in 2024, while cases of motorists fleeing cops have also surged in recent years, according to Michigan State Police data. Nationwide, 85,730 law enforcement officers were assaulted in 2024, marking the highest rate of officer assaults in a decade, according to FBI statistics. The rate of officer assaults last year was 13.5 per 100 sworn officers, up from 11.9 per 100 officers in 2020.

Officer-involved fatalities are also up in Michigan and across the United States. Nationwide, police officers killed at least 1,365 residents in 2024, according to the Mapping Police Violence database, making it the deadliest year for police killings since the police reform nonprofit Campaign Zero began collecting data in 2013. An NBC News analysis of MPV data last year showed that documented police killings have risen every year since 2019.

In Michigan, police killed 14 people in 2019 and 28 in 2024, according to the MPV database that draws from public sources and media reports. As of Oct. 31, police in Michigan had killed 17 people so far this year, according to the database.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty nationwide increased 25% from 2023-24, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Fifty-two officers were killed by guns last year, up 13% from 2023, the memorial fund said.

The White House in September said attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents increasd 1,000% over the past year, while protests nationwide have ended with multiple arrests. The statement followed a Sept. 24 incident at a Dallas ICE facility, when 29-year-old Joshua Jahn fired several rifle shots from a nearby building, killing two detainees and wounding another before taking his own life. According to the FBI, one of the shell casings was engraved with the phrase, "Anti-ICE."

Law enforcement officials blamed the problems on souring attitudes toward police, policies that prohibit officers from chasing suspects, judges and prosecutors who don't incarcerate wrongdoers and an ongoing mental health crisis. Critics said police officers often exacerbate routine interactions with bad attitudes that escalate situations.

"People are fleeing and eluding more, and assaulting more officers because they think they can get away with it," said Ron Wiles, director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. "Officers aren't allowed to pursue people anymore, and if someone is arrested, they're back on the street the next day.

"Talking to the (state's police chiefs), they're seeing a big increase in violence against officers by juveniles," Wiles added. "Again, there's that lack of accountability; we see juveniles on the street who have been arrested several times, they get arrested again, and they're right back out again. There's a lot of frustration on the part of the chiefs I talk to about this."

A "bad culture" can take hold in police departments, causing problems during interactions with citizens, said Reginald Crawford, a former Detroit police officer, Wayne County Sheriff's deputy and Detroit police commissioner.

"Bad culture will trump policy every time," said Crawford, a former president of the Wayne County Sheriff's Association union. "DPD has policies, but there are some cops who don't give a damn about policy. Policy doesn't mean a thing if you've got a bad culture.

"A lot of these young officers don't know how to talk to people. They come up to someone, and the first thing they ask is, 'You got a gun?' You're asking for problems from the start."

Justified and unjustified

In 2024, there were 1,875 arrests in Michigan for assaulting all state law enforcement officers, down from an all-time high of 1,919 in 2023. But local police agencies arrested 1,299 people for assaulting their officers, the highest ever recorded, state police statistics show, while arrests for assaults against state troopers and sheriff's deputies dropped.

This contrasted with the highest U.S. rate of law enforcement officer assaults in a decade, according to FBI statistics.

The Mapping Police Violence database doesn't match the information Michigan police departments provided to the FBI about police use of force, according to the Michigan State Police Use of Force reports, which draw from FBI data.

In 2024, 393 of the state's 573 police agencies reported that 84 officers applied force, resulting in 17 deaths and 19 injuries, according to the state police data. The MPV database, which doesn't track nonfatal incidents, counted 28 killings by police officers in 2024.

Last year's numbers were a departure from the 102 officers who applied force in 2021, resulting in 31 deaths and 22 injuries. The MPV database claimed there were 33 killings by police in 2021.

Crawford pointed to a recent case involving a Detroit police officer as an interaction with a citizen that went wrong because, according to police Chief Todd Bettison, the officer didn't follow procedure. The incident was one of three officer-involved shootings in Detroit since Sept. 18.

The incident happened Oct. 26 when an officer from the 11th Precinct stopped a woman for an alleged traffic violation, Bettison said. The woman disagreed with the police stop and asked to talk to a supervisor. The officer didn't call a supervisor, which violated the department's policy, Bettison told reporters during an Oct. 27 press conference.

When a backup unit arrived, "the officers physically opened the driver's door to get the woman out of the vehicle," Bettison said. "She was pepper-sprayed by one of the backup officers. She then closed the door and drove off from the scene."

The officers chased the woman for about a minute before boxing her car in — another policy violation, Bettison said. When the woman drove away, ignoring orders to stop and exit the vehicle, the initial officer "fired multiple shots at (the woman's SUV)," the police chief said. "The officer jumped in his squad car and pursued (the woman), ending at a DPD facility. The driver was shot a total of six times."

The woman, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was taken to a hospital and placed under arrest, although Bettison said he ordered her released with no charges, adding that he plans to ask the Board of Police Commissioners to suspend the officer without pay.

While the Oct. 26 incident was deemed by Bettison to have been handled improperly, other recent uses of force by police were found to be justified because residents assaulted the officers.

Michigan Department of Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Oct. 22 that her office's investigation concluded that a state trooper acted in self-defense on May 16, when he fatally shot 41-year-old Detroit resident Stephen Wangara-Mason, another incident that stemmed from a traffic stop.

"(The) Trooper observed Mason driving in excess of the speed limit southbound on M-10 in Detroit. The Trooper had also learned the vehicle was uninsured, and he initiated a traffic stop," Nessel's office said in a release. "Both Mason and the Trooper exited M-10 at the Wyoming Avenue exit and came to a stop alongside the service road.  

"While still seated in his vehicle, Mason conceded the insurance had lapsed but produced his vehicular registration," the release said. "The Trooper lost his grip on the paper registration, and it drifted underneath Mason’s vehicle. When invited to exit the vehicle to retrieve his registration, Mason declined to exit the vehicle, stating he did not need the registration. The Trooper then instructed Mason to exit his vehicle.

"When Mason exited the vehicle, the Trooper asked Mason 'What are you reaching for?' at the same moment a previously concealed revolver fell from Mason’s person to the road near both men’s feet," the release said. " Mason immediately lunged to retrieve the firearm, and the MSP Trooper tried to prevent him from reacquiring the firearm."

The officer and suspect struggled over obtaining the gun, and Mason got a hold of it and shot the trooper three times, including twice in the chest at point-blank range, the Attorney General's Office said. While a bulletproof vest prevented the bullets from penetrating the trooper's body, they caused injury that drew blood. A third bullet had to be surgically extracted from the trooper's clavicle, Nessel's office said.

"Despite the three gunshot injuries, the Trooper continued to struggle against Mason for control of his revolver as Mason continued his attempts to shoot and kill the Trooper," Nessel's office said. " Mason maintained, for a time, a grip upon the Trooper’s right-hand wrist preventing the Trooper from accessing his service pistol. The Trooper was able to overcome the efforts of Mason against his wrist, unholstered his service pistol, and shot Mason three times, killing him instantly. Until his death, Mason never ceased his attempts to kill the Trooper and still gripped the revolver in his right hand when the fatal shooting occurred."

The Macomb County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 23 announced that its investigation into an Oct. 13 officer-involved shooting by a Roseville police officer was justified after a citizen tried to ram the officer with his vehicle.

A second officer approached the suspect's vehicle, "at which time the suspect produced a knife," according to the Macomb County Sheriff's Office. "(The initial officer) also attempted to approach the suspect, who refused to comply with repeated verbal commands to drop the weapon. The suspect exited his vehicle, still armed with a knife and continued to ignore verbal commands. He then raised the knife and charged at (the initial officer), forcing officers to discharge their weapons."

The suspect, who was in critical condition, was charged with felonies, including two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of fire or police property. The assault charge is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Viral post disputed

Detroit police officials responded to a viral social media post that claimed police had violated a citizen's rights during an Oct. 20 arrest at a gas station in the 8000 block of Gratiot. The incident started when officers responded to a 2:30 a.m. call complaining that people were outside their vehicles drinking and refusing to leave.

"Upon the officer’s arrival, they observed open liquor bottles and cups," the Detroit Police Department said in a statement. The officers approached one of the vehicles, occupied by a woman named Jasmine Royster, and asked her multiple times for identification.

" Ms. Royster ... began to blow the horn of the vehicle, disregarding the officers’ request," police said.

An officer asked Royster to exit the vehicle multiple times, but she refused, the Detroit Police said. The officer then "took hold of her arm" and "began to escort Royster" out of the vehicle and ordered her several times to place her hands behind her back, which she also refused to do and instead "kept turning," police said. The officer wasn't able to get Royster in handcuffs until assisted by his partner.

A man approached the officer while he was trying to place Royster in handcuffs, the Detroit Police said. The unidentified man was also detained after he refused to leave the area after a police order. Royster was charged with disorderly public intoxication, having open alcohol in a motor vehicle, loitering, not having insurance and disobeying a lawful order, according to the department.

Royster also was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer, which is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine. She was arraigned Oct. 23 in 36th District Court. Royster's attorney, Ronald Duane Diebel, didn't respond to a phone call for comment.

Detroit arrests, complaints up

In Detroit, there were 811 arrests for obstructing or resisting police officers in 2024, more than twice as many as in 2020, and a 366% increase from the 174 arrests made in 2018, according to Detroit Police statistics. Through Oct. 21, there were 707 arrests so far this year for obstructing or resisting officers, Detroit Police data show.

Detroit police officers have experienced a more-than-threefold increase in arrests for assaulting, obstructing, impeding, interfering or fleeing from an officer over a six-year period. The 332 arrests in 2018 in this category skyrocketed to 1,121 arrests in 2024. So far this year, 999 such arrests have been made through Oct. 21, police statistics show.

"The data doesn't lie," Detroit Police Deputy Chief Michael Parish said. "Our officers are facing a lot of these situations. They go through 40 hours of training every year on how to handle these instances, and they're constantly reminded about the situations they may face, and we give them the legal tools to take the necessary action. They're trained in use of force techniques that can be used to protect the officer and bring the individual into custody safely."

While cases of assaulting, impeding or fleeing from officers are up in Detroit, so are complaints against cops. In July, a record 355 complaints were filed against Detroit police officers through the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners' Office of the Chief Investigators, according to the agency's Police Accountability Dashboard. In September, there were 287 complaints filed.

"The filing of complaints is way up for sure," police board Vice Chairman Darryl Woods said. "There’s been a lot of people who feel they were talked to the wrong way; a lot of demeanor complaints, people who feel they were talked to in a disrespectful manner."

While overall complaints reached record levels in Detroit recently, allegations of force were down last year from 2012, although there was an increase in force complaints from 2019-24, according to the Police Accountability Dashboard.

In Detroit in 2012, there were 463 complaints about officers using force reported to the dashboard. Of those allegations, 299 were not sustained, 52 were unfounded, 38 were exonerated, 23 cases were transferred, 22 were ruled duplicate cases, 15 were closed administratively, with seven allegations sustained and seven voided.

There were 190 allegations of force in 2019, with 98 unfounded, 45 inconclusive, 26 cases closed administratively, 12 voided, seven exonerated and two allegations sustained.

In 2024, there were 288 complaints about officers using force, the Police Accountability Dashboard shows. Of those allegations, 100 are pending, 68 were unfounded, 34 "aged beyond one year," 16 cases were closed administratively, 16 were exonerated, 16 were voided, 14 were inconclusive, 12 with no charges filed, eight were ruled that no officer was identified, three were sustained and there was one duplicate case.

The Rev. Jerome Warfield, the chief investigator for the Office of the Chief Investigator, said only a small fraction of the allegations are sustained.

"With all cases, we'll usually see about 10% to 12% a year sustained," Warfield said.

Fleeing cases soar in Macomb County

Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido said cases of fleeing and eluding police are "through the roof."

"A lot of departments have no-chase policies unless it's for murder, rape or some other life offense, and people are fleeing," Lucido said. "The problem is, there's no teeth in these penalties. The judges give no time for fleeing offenses where there's no accident, injury or death."

Lucido, who has taken a "no plea-down" approach to fleeing and eluding charges, said his office has prosecuted 78% more fleeing and eluding cases since 2019, from 226 cases to 403 cases in 2024. Through Oct. 23, the office this year had prosecuted 255 cases.

While statistic-keeping methods vary across agencies, the data generally show that more drivers nationwide also are fleeing from officers who attempt to pull them over. Crashes involving police pursuits jumped 49%, from 16,876 in 2019 to 25,196 in 2023, the last full year for which statistics were immediately available, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In Michigan, over that same time period, fatalities involving police pursuits more than doubled, from eight to 18, according to NHTSA.

Police chases are also becoming more deadly, according to NHTSA data. The number of fatalities stemming from police pursuits, including officer, suspect and bystander deaths, has climbed from 307 in 1982 to 542 in 2023, a 76% increase over four decades.

Bystanders account for more than a quarter of all fatalities stemming from pursuits involving police vehicles, according to a 2024 San Francisco Chronicle report, while a  Detroit News report, also from last year, found that bystanders account for about 30% of deaths from police chases in Michigan.

In Taylor, fleeing and eluding arrests have skyrocketed from 15 in 2018 to 37 in 2024, and 54 this year through Oct. 16, police Chief John Blair said. He said his department, like other Metro Detroit police agencies, has adopted a "no-chase" policy for nonviolent suspects.

"We don't pursue unless it's a violent felony crime — murder, armed robbery, shooting, rape, kidnapping, etc.," Blair said. "We tag cars with tracking devices instead of chasing people."

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