KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The City of Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety have wrapped up a two-year independent review report of KDPS led by an outside consulting group in the wake of civil unrest in downtown Kalamazoo in the summer of 2020.
A series of meetings involving City officials, Public Safety representatives, and a panel of citizens and community stakeholders occurred in March 2023 to review the remaining recommendation items from an August 2021 report compiled by the OIR Group, a consulting firm contracted by the City of Kalamazoo.
The Kalamazoo First Amendment Assembly Work Group reviewed the report which focused on Public Safety policies and actions during the summer 2020 public protests and demonstrations. The Working Group discussed the following five remaining recommendations from the OIR Report:
- Recommendation 2
- KDPS should work with other City officials and community representatives to assess its strategy for addressing criminal misconduct in the context of larger scale unrest, so that those responsible for assaultive and criminal conduct are targeted and those who are exercising their First Amendment rights are not impacted by less selective approaches such as tear gas.
- Recommendation 7
- KDPS and the City’s leadership should engage with the community as it considers the circumstances required to declare a police zone in the context of crowd management. The resulting guidelines should be publicized in a way that provides City residents and stakeholders a clear understanding of under what circumstances KDPS will declare a police zone in response to protest activity.
- Recommendation 12
- KDPS, in collaboration with the community, should determine a clear protocol for dispersal orders with the goal of gaining voluntary dispersal prior to issuing formal dispersal orders.
- Recommendation 22
- KDPS should work with City leadership and community representatives to establish the circumstances for which different crowd control techniques should be authorized.
- Recommendation 33
- The City’s leadership should work with KDPS and its community to establish agreed upon guidelines for when to call in the National Guard and publicize these to the community in advance of future events.
At the conclusion of the second session, all participants were in agreement that the proposed changes to how KDPS responds to First Amendment assemblies were fair and reasonable, and ensuring that the rights of the community are protected.
“We are truly grateful for the input from the community members for their review of Public Safety policies and procedures, and the remaining issues from the OIR Report that needed to be addressed. We are always trying to learn and improve and appreciate the assistance and guidance from the community,” said Public Safety Chief Dave Boysen. “The hope is KDPS will never need to utilize measures involving crowd control and demonstrations. If so, it is critical that we openly engage the community on our handling of such situations while making sure we keep everyone safe.”
Information on the OIR Recommendations and the completed OIR Report can be found on the Kalamazoo Public Safety Transparency page.
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