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November 08, 2019 - Image 1

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The Michigan Daily

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In the five years since the 2014
police shooting death of Ann
Arbor resident Aura Rosser,
the city’s law enforcement has
worked to undertake reform
and
increase
transparency.
While certain city leaders and
activists have since left town or
moved to new positions, work to
increase accountability for law
enforcement continues, both in
Ann Arbor and elsewhere.
Ann
Arbor
Mayor

Christopher Taylor was sworn
in less than 24 hours after
Rosser was shot. In response
to the shooting, he posted on a
public statement on Facebook,
saying that, while “appalling
racial injustice and disparity
continue to degrade our society
and must be fought at every
turn,” he also saw the reaction
of Officer Reid, the officer
who shot Rosser, as justified
because he believed his life was
in danger.
In a recent interview with
The Daily, Mayor Taylor cited

specific programs that have
been enhanced in response to
Rosser’s death. He specifically
discussed Ann Arbor’s renewed
emphasis
on
training
and
implementing
more
body
cameras among police officers.
The city approved upgrades to
police in-car and body cameras
in December 2014.
“The
Ann
Arbor
Police
Department takes training very
seriously and has always taken
training seriously,” Taylor said.

The City of Ann Arbor has
undertaken a variety of reforms
in the half-decade since an
officer shot and killed Ann
Arbor resident Aura Rosser
in 2014. However, as police
brutality remains a widespread
issue nationwide, efforts to
improve
transparency
and
increase accountability have led
students and experts to call for
more to be done.
LSA junior Jasmine Penny
explained that as a resident
adviser
in
Martha
Cook
Residence Hall, she deals with

police in an official capacity. But
as a Black female student, she
avoids unnecessary interactions
with the police.
“As
an
RA,
just
about
anything that goes wrong, you
call the police,” Penny said.
“So, you have to have a sense
of trust in them. But when I’m
out of the building, I feel a little
more on guard. It’s not that I’ve
personally had a bad interaction
with the Ann Arbor police, but
just in my history of growing
up, you don’t fully trust the
police. You stay more on guard
and tend to avoid unnecessary
interactions.”
Penny
noted
that
both

nationwide
and
at
the
University, law enforcement has
been the subject of complaints
about over-policing.
“I think it would take a
very long time to bridge the
gap, because of the distrust in
general,” Penny said. “Especially
if we live in a lower-income
community, we might not trust
the police to come out and help,
but that’s also on the police to
up their standards on how they
handle things.”
Training
in
police
de-escalation
tactics
is
a
reform measure supported by
members of the law enforcement

Over the past five years,
the
Ann
Arbor
Police
Department
has
worked
to
implement
reforms
to
increase transparency, largely
in response to the shooting
death of Ann Arbor resident
Aura Rosser. However, several
instances have incited criticism
from
residents
and
local
activists who say communities
of color feel as if they are
disproportionately targeted by
AAPD.
Blake Transit Center
In the fall of 2017, an Ann
Arbor
police
officer
took
16-year-old
Ciaeem
Slaton

into custody while he was
waiting at the Blake Transit
bus stop. A video taken by one
of Slaton’s friends shows the
officer pinning Slaton to the
ground while pointing a taser
toward
him.
Hundreds
of
demonstrators gathered on Oct.
4, 2017 to protest Slaton’s arrest.
The
ACLU
of
Michigan
reviewed
the
police
report
and video of the incident and
called on the AAPD to review
its policies on de-escalation and
use of force.
In response, an AAPD official
and Ann Arbor’s city attorney
met with the Washtenaw County
ACLU Lawyers Committee to
review the incident and discuss
the city’s plans to implement

new policy and training on
de-escalation.
In an interview with The
Daily,
Slaton’s
mother
Tria
Moore
said
the
incident
continues to affect her and her
family.
“I lost so much. I lost the job I
had just started … because I was
so stressed out,” Moore said.
Moore
said
the
instance
heavily impacted how she views
Ann Arbor’s systems of justice.
“I have no trust in the police
department,” Moore said. “I
have no faith in the police
department. If something goes
wrong, they are going to be the
last people I call.”

This article is part of a
Michigan Daily series reflecting
on the five years since Ann Arbor
resident Aura Rosser was fatally
shot by police officer David Ried
while responding to a call on Nov.
10, 2014.
Rosser, a Black woman afflicted
by a mental illness, was a 40-year-
old mother of three. On Jan. 30,
2015, the Washtenaw County
prosecutor’s
report
justified
Ried’s action as “lawful defense.”
No charges were brought against
him.
When
Lisa
Jackson,

community
activist
and
University of Michigan alum,
first applied for a seat on
Ann
Arbor’s
newly
formed
Independent Community Police
Oversight
Commission
this
February, she understood what
tensions the city was seeking to
fix.
According to Jackson, the
creation
of
the
Oversight
Commission — on which she
now serves as chair — was
inextricably linked to the death
of Aura Rosser, a Black woman
with mental illness who was
shot and killed by Ann Arbor
police responding to a 911 call,
five years ago Saturday. In the
wake of Rosser’s death and the

investigation
that
followed,
the
community
demanded
increased police accountability
and community oversight of
police authority.
“I think most people could say
that perhaps there were many
segments of the community
that didn’t trust the police very
much,” Jackson said. “But after
that, I think if you didn’t trust
the police, you probably felt that
your mistrust was well placed.”
Jackson
acknowledges
the incident caught many in
the
community
off
guard,
particularly for a city like Ann
Arbor, where previous to 2014,
a police-involved shooting had
not occurred for more than

30 years. But for Jackson, the
anomaly of Rosser’s death made
it all the more poignant.
“I think, because it happened
that one time, it was hugely
powerful,” Jackson said. “It
confirmed what a lot of people
felt — that the police don’t
value people of color very
much, or people with mental
psychological disorders much,
or people whom they perceive
to be less valuable than other
people. I’m not saying that’s
true. What I’m saying is that
there was a perception, and
then that incident confirmed
that perception.”
Washtenaw
County
Prosecutor Brian Mackie was

prosecuting attorney on the
case. In a 12-page memo released
in
January
2015,
Mackie
determined the officer who
killed Rosser had acted in self-
defense and labeled the incident
as “justifiable homicide.”
In
the
months
following
Rosser’s
death,
a
concerted
effort was made by the police
department and the city to
reform the policies of local
authorities. Body cameras were
made standard for all officers.
Police instituted new training
on de-escalation and implicit
bias. In March of this year,
11 local volunteers, including
Jackson, were named to the
Commission by Ann Arbor City

Council. About a month later,
the committee went to work.
The
members
of
the
commission see clear areas for
reform in Ann Arbor.
Jackson,
who
previously
served as Board President of
Ozone House — a nonprofit that
supports and gives shelter to
homeless and high-risk youth in
the Ann Arbor area — said she
felt she had a unique perspective
to bring to the commission. In
deciding whether to apply to the
commission, Jackson recalled
her work at Ozone House.
“I know that homeless kids

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 8, 2019

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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 26
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily

See COMMISSION, Page 3A

BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN /Daily

Key figures in police accountability
evaluate progress of last five years

Public leaders look back on changes to policing

See PROFILING, Page 3A

See POLICING, Page 2A

Oversight Commission provides avenue for reform

Tip Off
The Michigan women’s
basketball team’s season
starts tomorrow. Here’s
everything you need to

know. » See Page 1B

Members of review body work to provide accountability for local law enforcement, increase civilian input

See FIGURES, Page 3A

Stakeholders, activists look back on previous claims of
discrimination against Ann Arbor Police Department

JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter

Community reflects on past
accusations of racial profiling

DESIGN BY MICHELLE FAN

Students, faculty weigh in on
efforts to improve policing in A2

Campus considers evolution of AAPD procedures

KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter

MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN
Daily Staff Reporter

The Daily reports on how law enforcement in A2 has
changed since fatal police shooting of resident Aura

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