CPTA DoJ Complaint Against Detroit Police Department

Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Dawn N. Ison, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

The CPTA formed in response to the killing of Hakim Littleton by the Detroit Police Department in July 2020.  Coalition members of the CPTA include:

  •  ACLU of Michigan
  •  Black Legacy Coalition
  •  Detroit and Michigan Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
  •  Detroit Council of Elders
  •  Detroit Justice Center
  •  Detroit Will Breathe
  •  East Michigan Environmental Action Council
  •  The Hush House Black Community Museum
  •  James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership
  •  Michigan Coalition for Human Rights
  •  Michigan Liberation
  •  Michigan Poor People's Campaign
  •  Moratorium Now Coalition
  •  National Conference of Black Lawyers, Michigan Chapter
  • Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit
  •  Riverwise Magazine
  •  Wayne County Criminal Defense Bar Association
  •  We The People of Detroit

The CPTA has made a complaint to the DoJ for a federal investigation into Detroit Police Department’s long history of misconduct.  This includes, but is not limited to:

  • The negative impact of James Craig’s leadership.
  • The inability of the police commission to bring about needed reforms.
  • An exhaustive list of the killings committed by police since 2015 – with such killings increasing in frequency in recent years.
  • The killing of Hakim Littleton and CPTA’s frustrated attempts to get an independent investigation.
  • The failure of DPD’s leadership to effectively address officers’ racism both within the police department and in the community.
  • Racist arrests in weapons possession cases.
  • The absence of meaningful improvements under Chief White’s leadership.

Please sign on and spread the word to your communities you are a part of so we can address this urgent problem, find more info at: http://detroitcpta.org or email detroitcpta@gmail.com

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To: Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Dawn N. Ison, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
From: [Your Name]

I support the request by the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA) for a federal investigation of a pattern of killings and excessive force by the Detroit Police Department (DPD) and an institutional culture within the department that promotes violence and racial discrimination within the Department and against members of the community.

Since the filing of the request from the CPTA, it has come to my attention that the Police Chief James White has identified 128 active, high-risk Detroit police officers. This list does not include problem officers who are no longer in the Detroit Police Department. It is troubling that 120 out of the 128 DPD officers identified were hired after the appointment of James Craig to the position of DPD Chief on July 1, 2013. Furthermore, 107 problem DPD officers were hired after the DoJ consent decree was lifted on March 31, 2016. Former Chief Craig resigned, effective June 1, 2021.