The Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA) has gathered the following information concerning use of force incidents and alleged/convicted criminal misconduct by the Detroit police officers on and off duty in recent years. CPTA makes no judgments about whether each of these incidents and allegations and others are unjustified/justifiable or substantiated or not as the facts available to us are from media reports that in most cases are based on the accounts provided by the police. We note only the disturbing and concerning frequency of the police department’s use of force, deadly force, and alleged/convicted criminal misconduct.
| Incident Date | Summary | References |
|---|---|---|
| 5/23/2015 | Caso Jackson (25) was killed by the police after he barricaded himself and hostages in a home. Hostages included Jackson’s wife and four of her family members. Police claimed gunfire was exchanged after Jackson jumped from the porch and began shooting at police officers. Jackson later died in the hospital. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2015/05/23/hostage-situation-on-detroits-west-side-ends-in-exchange-of-fire/ |
| 2/13/2017 | Raynard Burton, an unarmed 19-year-old man was shot and killed by DPD officer Jerold Blanding in a backyard of an abandoned home while fleeing. Police claim Blanding fired a fatal shot into Burton's chest when Burton, who was unarmed, attempted to grab the officer's gun. The actual shooting wasn't captured on video. | https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/man-shot-by-police-identified-as-19-year-old-with-juvenile-history-of-domestic-assault-battery https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2018/04/after_being_cleared_in_teens_s.html https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/prosecutor-worthy-unloads-murder-misconduct-charges-on-police-officers |
| 4/30/2017 | James Edward Ray, Jr., a 46-year-old man armed with a gun, was shot by a DPD officer. In July 2020, the estate of Mr. Ray filed a wrongful death federal lawsuit against the City of Detroit and two unnamed officers claiming that Detroit police officers killed Mr. Ray and planted a gun on his body to cover up the wrongful death. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2017/05/01/man-suspected-of-shooting-detroit-police-officer-identified-as-james-edward-ray/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/07/07/lawsuit-detroit-police-framed-accused-cop-killer-james-edward-ray-jr/5390523002/ |
| 9/14/2018 | Detric Driver, 46, of Detroit was shot several times during an early morning Detroit police raid at his home on the city's west side. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/2018/10/03/detroit-police-fatal-shooting-muslim-man-detric-driver/1423205002/ https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/11/30/police-involved-fatal-shootings-michigan/2140694002/ |
| 10/24/2018 | An unidentified 45-year-old man was shot and killed by DPD as “he reached for a holstered gun.” | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/10/25/officer-involved-shooting-leaves-man-critical-condition/1759688002/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2018/10/25/assault-suspect-shot-detroit-police/1758831002/ |
| 6/3/2019 | Kevin Pudlik, an unarmed 41-year-old man, was shot and killed while a passenger in a fleeing vehicle. | https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/driver-charged-with-death-in-detroit-police-chase-bound-over-on-all-charges https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/driver-involved-in-detroit-police-chase-charged-with-murder |
| 12/13/2019 | Louis Patrick Veal (65) was shot and killed by police after he killed two women and fled. Police later found his vehicle and tracked him to a bar. When Veal was approached, police claim he opened fire and the officers returned fire, killing him. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2019/12/16/police-identify-double-murder-suspect-killed-in-shootout-with-detroit-officers/ |
| 11/3/2020 | Detroit police pursued a suspect in a high-speed chase without activating either lights or siren and caused a fatal car crash. It was determined that the failure to use lights and siren was deliberate because of the officers’ awareness that activating them would trigger the video recording of the pursuit. The officers’ actions were characterized as an “unethical coverup.” | https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/a-crash-then-a-coverup-how-a-questionable-detroit-police-chase-ended-in-a-young-womans-death |
| 7/16/2020 | A Black youth was killed in the ninth precinct by an officer assigned to the gang surveillance unit after a car chase. Police allege the victim had a gun in his hand. Video records were not released. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/2020/07/23/police-shooting-detroit-police-east-side/5498579002/ |
| 7/19/2020 | An unidentified man was killed by the police after he and accomplices killed an 18 year-old man. The men fled, police followed, and a car chase ended when the suspects’ car crashed into a tree. The suspects ran, and police claim the victim pointed his gun at an officer and the officer shot and killed him. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/07/27/detroit-chief-address-third-police-shooting-month/5517284002/ |
| 7/23/2020 | Detroit police officers fatally shot a man. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/07/23/man-fatally-shot-detroit-police-investigating-shooting/5499049002/ https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/07/27/detroit-chief-address-third-police-shooting-month/5517284002/ |
| 7/30/2020 | Police killed a Black man alleged to have been wielding a sword and knife. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/07/31/police-on-scene-of-officer-involved-shooting-on-detroits-west-side/ |
| 10/30/2020 | A man was killed by the Detroit police after a mental health crisis (related to bipolar disorder) caused the man to hold his girlfriend hostage while pointing a gun at her. A standoff between the man and the police lasted for nine hours. Police claimed they decided the man was a serious threat to the hostage’s life and he was shot and killed by a police sniper. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/10/31/barricaded-gunman-killed-detroit-police/6103972002/ |
| 11/4/2020 | Another man with mental illness was killed after being released. "He was at the Detroit Receiving Hospital earlier that day asking for help. He's schizophrenic and they let him leave without giving him any medicine, it's a crisis center," said the man's sister. | https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/man-shot-dead-by-detroit-police-was-just-released-from-crisis-center-after-checking-himself-in-family-says |
| 12/1/2020 | Kevin Fox was killed by the Detroit Police after he arrived at the Fifth precinct and opened fire at the station. The night before, Fox had killed his girlfriend, Shavon Mitchell. Fox fled, went to a parking lot near the precinct and sat in his SUV. A standoff ended with an exchange of gunfire that left Fox dead. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/12/01/shots-fired-at-detroit-police-when-officers-respond-to-grocery-store-break-in-standoff-ongoing/ https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/murder-victim-of-man-killed-by-detroit-police-suffered-from-domestic-abuse-family-says |
| 2/8/2021 | Respected attorney Cliff Woodards was killed by a Detroit police officer in a car crash. The officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/06/24/detroit-police-charged-cliff-woodards/5333334001/ |
| 3/1/2021 | Police fatally shot an armed man at a motel. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/03/07/ohio-triple-homicide-suspect-dies-shootout-detroit-police/4620007001/ |
| 4/19/2021 | Detroit police fatally shot an armed man. | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2021/04/19/gunfight-detroit-police-shooting/7282099002/ |
| 4/20/2021 | A "knife-wielding" man suffering a "mental health crisis" was shot and killed by Detroit police officers. | https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/michigan/articles/2021-04-20/man-fatally-shot-by-detroit-police-after-attack-on-officer |
| 8/8/2021 | Michael Contrell Adams, an unarmed man, was shot and killed by Detroit police officers after his vehicle collided with an unmarked police vehicle. | https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-man-who-detroit-police-say-pointed-gun-at-undercover-officers-was-unarmed-when-killed |
| 12/20/2021 | Though Nakita Williams, a 33-year-old woman undergoing a mental health crisis, caused harm to no one as she waved an airsoft pistol at persons present at a gas station, police shot and killed her. | https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/12/21/family-mourning-after-mother-of-4-shot-killed-by-detroit-police/ |
| 12/25/2021 | Detroit police officers killed 62-year-old Dwayne McDonald, who was a suspect in the murder of a woman and child. | https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/suspect-down-after-shooting-by-detroit-police-officer-on-citys-east-side |
| 2/25/2022 | An armed man fleeing in a vehicle was shot and killed by police. | https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/2-dead-after-detroit-police-fatally-shoot-home-invasion-suspect-following-fatal-crash |
| 7/10/2020 | 21-year-old Hakim Littleton was present when Detroit officers arrested another young man. Littleton fled and when pursued by officers, was overtaken and subdued, but in the end killed. Police claimed Mr. Littleton fired a gun at a pursuing officer. Video footage shows Mr. Littleton face down, disarmed and fully subdued by officers when an officer approaches him, takes aim, and fires a fatal shot into the young man’s head. | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT33YARjZWc&t=18s https://detroitcpta.org/about/community-statement-on-the-killing-of-hakim-littleton/ |