Jan. 31--A federal judge, alarmed by the growing backlog of citizen complaints against Detroit police officers, has given the city 30 days to submit a written plan for how it plans to clear the backlog by March 1.
If the city fails to submit the plan by March 1, U.S. District Judge Julian Cook said he would fine the city $1,000 per day until it complies.
"This, quite simply, is totally unacceptable," Cook said in the order issued Monday. He said there were 14 unresolved complaints in March 2011 and 400 today.
He said the backlog is undermining the city's efforts to comply with federally mandated reforms the city agreed to implement in 2003 to curb excessive force, mistreatment of prisoners in police lockups and dragnet arrests of potential witnesses at homicide scenes.
The city has complied with 80% of the reforms, but is years behind schedule.
Cook ordered the city's Office of Chief Investigator (OCI) in April 2010 to clear the backlog in 90 days, but granted a six-month extension, followed by an additional two months when the city failed to comply.
Though the city blamed the backlog on its decision last August to fire its chief investigator and four other investigators, Cook said the backlog began increasing before that.
"The court fears that the OCI -- and, by extension, the city and the Board of Police Commissioners -- do not fully understand the gravity of the situation," he said.
There was no immediate comment from the Detroit Police Department or the Police Commission.
Contact David Ashenfelter: [email protected]
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
