williep
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- Apr 14, 2015
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150 cops for 300 residents: Michigan town running Tulsa-style 'pay-to-play' policing
A slew of prominent people have applied to join Oakley’s growing band of ‘no-show secret police officers’ – including the rapper Kid Rock
A lawsuit is attempting to force transparency from village leaders about the scheme. Photograph: Brad Devereaux/The Saginaw News/AP
Tom Dart in Houston
Friday 17 April, 2015
Oakley, Michigan, is not a hotbed of crime. But if that should change, it seems well placed to cope, because the village is believed to have a police force numbering almost 150 people, or one officer for every two residents.
One, Robert James Ritchie, does not live in Oakley. A Detroit-area native better known as the rapper Kid Rock, he applied to join the village’s small army of reserve police officers, according to an attorney, along with many prominent Michigan professionals and businesspeople and a football player for the Miami Dolphins.
“A small blip on the map, the little village of Oakley, with less than 300 residents, has got dozens and dozens of no-show secret police officers,” said Philip Ellison, a lawyer who is representing the family who own Oakley’s tavern in lawsuits attempting to force transparency from village leaders about the scheme.
Ellison said the singer was one of the names on a document released to him which he is not allowed to make public in full.
“None of the reservists, with the exception of one, live within an hour and a half of the village of Oakley,” said Ellison.
150 cops for 300 residents Michigan town running Tulsa-style pay-to-play policing US news The Guardian
Does this seem like a way a professional police department should be run? To me .... seems ripe for serious problems .... just like the disaster when a 73-year-old reserve deputy in Oklahoma shoot and killed a man when he (claims) meant to use a tazer.
What's your take?
A slew of prominent people have applied to join Oakley’s growing band of ‘no-show secret police officers’ – including the rapper Kid Rock
A lawsuit is attempting to force transparency from village leaders about the scheme. Photograph: Brad Devereaux/The Saginaw News/AP
Tom Dart in Houston
Friday 17 April, 2015
Oakley, Michigan, is not a hotbed of crime. But if that should change, it seems well placed to cope, because the village is believed to have a police force numbering almost 150 people, or one officer for every two residents.
One, Robert James Ritchie, does not live in Oakley. A Detroit-area native better known as the rapper Kid Rock, he applied to join the village’s small army of reserve police officers, according to an attorney, along with many prominent Michigan professionals and businesspeople and a football player for the Miami Dolphins.
“A small blip on the map, the little village of Oakley, with less than 300 residents, has got dozens and dozens of no-show secret police officers,” said Philip Ellison, a lawyer who is representing the family who own Oakley’s tavern in lawsuits attempting to force transparency from village leaders about the scheme.
Ellison said the singer was one of the names on a document released to him which he is not allowed to make public in full.
“None of the reservists, with the exception of one, live within an hour and a half of the village of Oakley,” said Ellison.
150 cops for 300 residents Michigan town running Tulsa-style pay-to-play policing US news The Guardian
Does this seem like a way a professional police department should be run? To me .... seems ripe for serious problems .... just like the disaster when a 73-year-old reserve deputy in Oklahoma shoot and killed a man when he (claims) meant to use a tazer.
What's your take?
