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 

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Friday, November 8, 2019

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

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

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

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

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