of diversity within the AAPD,
the department has responded
by seeking to recruit a wider
pool of candidates through
extending
their
recruiting
radius.
Sergeant
Jaime
Crawford from the recruiting
and hiring unit of the AAPD
explained the department is
actively looking for candidates
from all over Michigan.
“We
are
really
trying
to
broaden
where
we
are
recruiting from and the type
of events we are attending,”
Crawford said. “In the past, it
was easier to recruit inasmuch
as we didn’t have to do much
because people were seeking
out law enforcement as a career,
and now that has changed so we
are really trying to attend events
at universities and we are going
into more urban areas.”
Crawford said AAPD has
begun
recruiting
at
many
colleges throughout the state,
attending career fairs at the
University of Detroit Mercy,
Wayne State University, Ferris
State
University,
Michigan
State
University
and
Mott
Community College. Recruiters
like Crawford seek to identify
good candidates — even those
who might not be ready to
apply for several years — in
order to develop awareness of
opportunities within AAPD.
“We want to expose them
to what the Ann Arbor Police
Department
is
all
about,”
Crawford said. “We are highly
regarded within the state and
among other police departments
so we really want to pull them
in early and let them know what
we have to offer.”
Part of how AAPD goes
about recruiting is through
maintaining diversity within
the recruiting staff.
“We try to have diversity in
our recruiters,” Crawford said.
“Just so that the representatives
we have from the Ann Arbor
Police
Department
are
approachable and can answer
any questions or concerns that
potential
candidates
might
have. As a female, I get a lot of
questions from females that are
curious to know what it’s like in
this field.”
Crawford went on to explain
that while it is obviously a
male-dominated environment,
she has been afforded every
opportunity.
“My experience with Ann
Arbor has been phenomenal,”
Crawford said.
Alongside pursuing potential
candidates
at
universities,
AAPD has also initiated a
sponsorship
program
as
another mode of promoting
diversity. The program allows
the city to assume the cost of
the candidate attending the
academy with the promise
that when they graduate, they
become an officer in AAPD.
This
has
been
helpful
as
Crawford said the academy
itself can be a roadblock for
potential candidates. It can be
difficult for some to attend the
academy due to the cost, which
is about $7,000, combined with
the fact students in the academy
don’t have time to work during
the training process.
Scherba cited two recent
instances where the sponsor
program
has
helped
bring
diversity into the force
“In our most recent process
we identified one non-white
male we intend to sponsor,”
Scherba said. “Our most recent
hire group included a female
who we sponsored.”
While the change in numbers
from 2014 to 2016 appeared
bleak
for
the
department,
hiring solely white officers
during that period. Crawford
said diversity has since picked
up in the hiring process.
“We just hired one brand
new officer, non-white male,
and we have another that is
in the process right now,”
Crawford said. “We just hired
another female as well.”
The resurgence in diversity
in the hiring process is timely
considering the AAPD seems
to be losing diversity through
the
retirement
of
several
members. However, Scherba
says the process of creating
more
diversity
within
the
department is a gradual process
with long-term effects.
“We are kind of in the more
beginning
stages
of
really
starting to see the fruits of our
effort,” Scherba said. “We are
finally beginning to see some
positive results. Getting more
candidates is increasing our
applicant pool so it’s only going
to result in a better department
for our community.”
The AAPD is in a state of
transition, due to the transfer
of AAPD Police Chief Jim
Baird,
who
is
relocating
to
Breckenridge,
Colo.
Meanwhile, the city is still in
the process of determining his
successor. While some may
question how the transition
between police chiefs may
affect the AAPD’s momentum
in pursuing diversity within the
force, the City Administrator
Howard Lazarus said they will
undoubtedly select a chief who
will be supportive of this goal.
“As we recruit a new police
chief, we will recruit someone
who reflects the values of Ann
Arbor and city government,”
Lazarus said. “We are an
inclusive society that meets in
an inclusive community, and
we try to reflect that in all of
our commissions. So whoever
we recruit as the police chief
will reflect those values.”
On the surface, it would appear
rapper Iggy Azalea and Danny
Sheridan, University of Michigan
Business senior, don’t have a
lot in common. Azalea grew up
on Azalea Street in Australia.
Sheridan grew up on Woodside
Lane in Ohio. However, both
Azalea and Sheridan have shaped
a brand around their hometown
street name.
Sheridan founded Woodside
Distributors as a high school
freshman. Like any successful
entrepreneur,
Sheridan
began
his business in his childhood
bedroom. He saw an opportunity
within the video game market for
Xbox Live, a gaming membership
sold as a gift card which allows
virtual gameplay between friends.
Just like the popular Webkinz
World membership of the early
2000s, XBox Live memberships
became highly coveted. Sheridan
capitalized
on
this
demand
and developed a pricing model
that allowed him to resell the
memberships for profit.
The early days of Woodside
Distributors
resemble
the
narrative
of
an
archetype
technology icon. Sheridan quit
lacrosse and football to focus his
efforts on expanding his business.
He spent his free time modeling
profits with Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets
and
contacting
suppliers.
He
even
recruited
“the smartest kid in AP Physics,”
University alum Alex Glassman,
to lend expertise in data analytics.
Instead of venture capitalists,
his investors were bar mitzvah
guests.
“So I decided to use $6,000 of
my bar mitzvah money, which
was actually my funding source,”
Sheridan told Click on Detroit. “I
am glad that my parents didn’t say
no because at the time I wasn’t in
control of the funds. They actually
transferred all of it over and said,
‘It’s your life,’ which was nice to a
freshman in high school. I really
appreciated it.”
By his senior year of high
school, Woodside Distributors
revenue reached the $2 million
milestone. One can only wonder
what his Common Application
essay was about.
When Sheridan left Woodside
Lane,
he
took
Woodside
Distributors with him. Sheridan
and Glassman headed for Ann
Arbor with big goals for the
company. Over the course of their
four years at the University, they
have recruited classmates, spent
a summer working in a rented
Business School classroom with a
team of 12 students, expanded to
sell over 200 products and topped
$3.5 million in revenue.
Perhaps most surprising is
how the nimble architecture
of
Woodside
Distributors
has allowed for Sheridan and
Glassman to not sacrifice the
typical college experience.
“We get to sit behind a
computer, paying no full-time
salaries, paying no rent,” Sheridan
said. “Right now, it’s making
money and I’m putting in about
seven to 10 hours a week. The
ideas are based off a four-hour
workweek.”
After graduating from the
Business School in May, Sheridan
will not be returning to Woodside
Lane. Rather, he is headed to
Seattle, where he has accepted
a job offer from Amazon as a
product manager.
Frank Lee
Daily Staff Reporter
Prosecutor prepares to take se-
rial rape case to trial
For the past 2 1/2 years, Ann
Arbor citizens have had to live
with the fear of possibly becoming
the next victim of a serial rapist - a
criminal who brutally beats his vic-
tims into unconsciousness and then
rapes them. The viciousness of his
attacks left one woman dead and
four others emotionally scarred.
Then on Christmas Day, an alert
cab driver gave Ann Arbor police
a gift in the form of a tip that led
to the arrest of a suspect. Ervin
Dewain Mitchell Jr., 33, now stands
accused of being the serial rapist.
If he is convicted, many concerned
members of the community will
finally have peace of mind.
Before the arrest, the Ann Arbor
police, who questioned nearly 800
possible suspects, seemed power-
less to stem the series of sexual
assaults occurring on the city’s
west side.
Mitchell was already in police
custody at the Washtenaw County
Jail on $50,000 bond awaiting an
April 3 trial before Judge Don-
ald Shelton for an assault and
attempted Christmas Eve purse-
snatching of a 34- year-old Ann Ar-
bor woman. If convicted on those
charges, he faces up to 15 years in
prison. He was denied bond last
week when he was charged with
four counts of first-degree criminal
sexual conduct and one count of
first-degree murder.
“First-degree murder in Michi-
gan carries a mandatory sentence
of life in prison without parole,”
said Washtenaw County Prosecu-
tor Brian Mackie, the attorney
handling both of Mitchell’s trials.
“Criminal sexual conduct in the
first degree carries any term of
years - up to life.”
Mitchell remained unemotional
as he pleaded not guilty before 14-A
District Court Magistrate George
Parker. The arraignment came after
months of public speculation and
one of the most intensive manhunts
in the police department’s history.
Before the arraignment, while
his client sat in jail unable to meet
his bond, Washtenaw County As-
sistant Public Defender Lankford
accused the prosecution of stalling
and not being able to meet their
burden of proof.
“If the evidence the prosecution
has is that good, why haven’t they
charged him?” Lankford asked. “If
you can’t charge him, you definitely
can’t convict him.”
It was less than three months
ago that police arrested Mitchell
for allegedly punching a 34-year-
old Ann Arbor woman in the 1800
block of Dexter Avenue and at-
tempting to take her purse.
Amid the glare of TV camera
lights and a swarm of reporters,
Mitchell smiled at his arraignment
Dec. 27 on those charges before
14-A District Court Magistrate A.
Thomas Truesdell. “You all are
going to be seeing a lot of me,”
Mitchell said as he was escorted
back to his jail cell in handcuffs and
leg shackles.
Mitchell’s words were prophetic
indeed.
2A — Wednesday, March 14, 2018
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ON THE DAILY: CEO OF WOODSIDE HEADED TO AMAZON
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