LANSING (WKZO) — Anyone convicted of killing a police or correctional department officer would face the death penalty under legislation being proposed by state Senator Virgil Smith.
The Detroit Democrat says he’s bringing up the issue because he pledged to do so in conversations with the father of Detroit Police Officer Matthew Bowens, who was killed in 2004. Smith’s resolution would need approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House to be placed on the ballot for the public to decide.
Michigan banned capital punishment in 1847, and was the first state to do so.
