Ncwember 12-18, 1989 MICIDGAN CITIZEN Page 3
La
ma ers mull weapo s choice in crime
• J"OO.·,_, ..... G - Lawmakers are
choosing their strategy and
equipping their arsenals to in­
tensify Michigan's war on crime
and drugs.
It is still unclear, however,
egislation weapons will be
cr fted and hen they'll be
deliYered to the front.
Judiciary committees in both
ho are orking with Gov.
James Blanchard on legislation
to fight Michigan's crime and
drug problems.
Both houses agree on which
problems to attack, but each has
its own ppr ch. B chard al­
ready supports several bills that
are in committee, but the road
to the governor's desk is not al­
ways smooth.
One bill, signed by
Blanchard Wednesday, amends
current criminal procedures to
allow grand juries ·th multi-
o Housing,
By EDI
Corrupondant
DETROIT - Friday October
1:1, officially commenced the
Wayne County Union of the
Homele ' Winter Offen ive,
"No Hou ing, No Peace."
WHU's President Wayne Pip­
pin said this slogan, the Union's
motto,· very much alive and
11 in the city of Detroit.
Approxim tely 100 mem­
bers of the Wayne County
Union of the Homeless WHU
conducted a demonstra ion in
the City Council chamber on
the 27. WHU ttempted to
present a list of demands
I regarding numerous vacant
ho owned by t e Depart­
ment of Hou . ng and Urban
Development (HUD) and the
City.
Just before 000, the rallyes­
calated to n outbre - that
resulted in gun pi y, a slight al­
tercation - . th plain clothed
police officers and the arrest of
one WHU member Elbert
Alexander, who was charged
with deterring all officer from
his duties.
Council members agreed to
hear the requ ts ofWHU upon
the calming of the incident.
The Union' list of demands
included:
- The opening and preserv­
ing of all public housing units.
The Union demands that the
city Housing Department ac­
count for the millions of federal
dollars allocated to maintain
and renovate public housing in
Detroit.
- That the amount of decent
and affordable houses be in­
creased for Detroit's homeless.
The City is currently seeking a
qui dditio $14 to $15 mil­
lion to continue i demolition
program. The Union is con-
county jurisdiction, The law is a
response to a problem that has
long plagued police and
prosecutors.
Citizen and one-person
grand juries have only been able
to investigate wrongdoing in the
county in which they are drawn,
even though organized crime
and drug networks often cross
county lines.
SE ATEOKAYS O-KNOCK
Among other bills, ·No­
Knock" legislation already has
passed the Senate and is now in
the House Judiciary Commit­
tee. If the measure is passed, of­
ficers serving search and arrest
warrants could break down the
door without first knocking and
unciDg themsc1ves.
"When we come to your
house armed with a search war­
rant signed by a judge, we have
the highest authority available,"
Donald Reisig. state Office of
o Peace
cerned that money is being
taken from progams to repair
houses that the homeless could
live in. The Union is opposed to
the Housing Department's
using other available funds for
demolition. WHU thinks that
the City should be using un­
spent funds for immediate
rehabilitation projects.
The City has announced a
new progr m for it tax­
reverted property � The City es­
timates that there are some
12,000 vacant buildings in
Detroit. WHU believes that a
large number of these homes
are tax-reverted and owned by
the City. WHU therefore,
demands that the City make
available 2SO of these houses to
the homeless through WHU.
The Union also demands that
the City allocate sufficient
funds to repair these homes to a
. decent condition and provide
reliab jobs for the unemployed
and homeless through WHU.
After brief ession with
Council person Mel Ravitz,
Maryann Mahaffey and John
Peeples, Union members were
ad�tosubnUtacopyoftheir
demands to Mayor Coleman
Young for consi deration.
Mahaffey informed WHU
President Wayne Pippin that it
is not the City Council that
holds the authority to imple­
ment their demands.
Mayor Young has never met
with the Union though WHU
officials would appreciate the
opportunityto meet with Young
and be part of the solution­
making process.
Pippin insi ted, "The City .
inust act now! We are in a sur­
vival crisis and cannot afford to
wait for relief any longer. He
added, "We will not rest until
the City hears us. NO HOUS­
ING, NO PEACE!!!
Drug Agencies director, said.
"They have carved out eixcep­
tions in common law where the
officer may be in danger or
where contraband may be
destroyed."
Judges would have to write a
provision into the warrant
which would leave the decision
- of whether or not to knock up to
the officer.
"Currently the way this is
decided," Nichols said, "is that
police officers go on the scene
and they make the decison on
the e to whether or no
theyar going to not knock and
announce their purpose. What
we've done by this bill is to put
those two exceptions into the
proposed no-knock exemption
to the search warrant statute."
House Judiciary Committee
Staff Director Jonathan R.
- Hansen- said he thinks the no­
knock legislation may be writing
a death warrant for police.
"I tend to think there's a
whole lot more work to do (on
the bill) this year. We probably
won't see a hearing until next
year," Hansen said.
Michigan State Police,
however, strongly supports the
no-knock legislation.
·Y ou have a constitutional
right to be- free of government
interference. It's included in the
Fourth Amendment provisions
and I think police have respect
for that .protection," Lt. Vern
Reidsma, State Police govern­
ment liaison, said.
CONSTITIJTIONAL
QUESTIO S ARISE
The issue of constitutionality
also comes into play with the
wiretap legislation. The bill,
which has Blanchard's support,
has passed the Senate and is in
the House Judiciary Commit­
tee.
Police agencies could obtain
a warrant authorizing a wiretap
n suspected dealers i the
�easure is p Part 0 the
�roof n to obtain a war-
r nt would evidence that
er investig tive procedures
had failed or ould be likely to
f u
"There's a I t of illegal drug
a tivity going n. We are not
a le to cond wiretap .
. ation to g t at those top
. p ople," Rei ma said.
f deral people are too busy."
Reidsma d that the more
an $20,000 rice tag 0.- a
. retap inve igation would
p ohibit law e orcement agen­
. s from over ing it.
"(Wiretap ) an essen ial
t 01 that la enforcement
S�OUld have t use in cases
were it's im ossible to get
e . dence to co viet someone:
R idsma said.
"We have a w that says you
can't eavesdro in Michigan,·
d Michigan tate University
c� justi professor Zol­
t Ferency. H said he thinks
t legis) ture ould not legal­
iz eavesdro pi g, but if
etapping is owed, the law
sh u1d contain pecific operat­
ing procedures.
Hansen said his committee
pi nned to mak some chan es
to the Senate bi , but that some
so t of wiretap I gislation even­
tu lly will bee me law. The
H use plans t consider the
m asure in the next couple of
m nths.
ve
r
profits in civil court. Under the
Michigan bill citizens could not
take civil forfeiture action
against criminals.
Reisig said he supports the
bill because for . purposes he
doesn't care if it applies to other
- crimes as long as it can be used
as a weapon in the drug war.
"I don't think there's any bill
that would please two people,
even if those two people are of
the same mind," Reisig said
about RICO's critics.
Ferency said, "I would rather
.prosecute each crime in­
dividually so a person has a
chance to defend himself for
each one."
He said pro ecutors could
use existing statues to enhance
charges and sentences, rather _ -
than depend on a law such as
RICO.
Hansen said no RICO legis­
lation has been introduced in
the House yet, but at least two
bills are currently in the works.
The consecutive sentencing
bill, another issue in the Senate
Judiciary Committee, would
allow courts to sentence multi­
ple felons to consecutive, rather
. than concurrent, prison terms.