Comment: Secrecy surrounding sweeps
reflects badly on schools and police

I write this as a K-12 alum of our schools, father of children who are students here, and as an attorney now very aware of the danger of ceding control of our schools to law enforcement “training sessions.” I’m a former assistant Wayne County prosecuting attorney with a B.A. from the MSU School of Criminal Justice, focused on police/community relations. The late Dr. Louis Radelet, my mentor, professor and faculty advisor, was the founder of the National Center on Police and Community Relations. I’ve been in private practice in Grosse Pointe for 20 years, and I know firsthand the damage that police secrecy, bad attitudes and outright misconduct have on community support and respect for law enforcement.

My law partner, Randall Cain, is a retired Grosse Pointe Park lieutenant with 28 years in law enforcement, also a K-12 alum, and father of daughters who graduated from South. Please consider our backgrounds as you read on.

It’s difficult to convey my disappointment in Grosse Pointe Public School System administrators who made the decision to allow yet another drug raid last month in our high schools without first ensuring that policies are in place to protect our children. At our request, Superintendent Suzanne Klein, Assistant Superintendent Chris Fenton, Grosse Pointe South Principal Al Diver, and (by teleconference) Grosse Pointe North Principal Tim Bearden met at our offices on Feb. 3 to discuss our concerns and those of our clients.

We asked for the meeting to address serious problems that arose during the Nov. 11, 2010, raid at North High School, ostensibly led by the Grosse Pointe Woods Department of Public Safety. Unable to find any policies governing such multi-jurisdictional raids on the district's website, we specifically asked for copies of the policies and procedures that govern drug raids and were told they would be sent to us. We have not received them. We were assured that the GPPSS policies and guidelines for allowing drug raids would be carefully reviewed by the district’s attorneys before any more raids would be conducted. We do not know if this occurred.

At the meeting in February, Cain and I raised many questions about the raids, and in particular, the verbal abuse of a North student – our client – at the hands of a Saginaw officer who repeatedly called the student a “liar” and demanded to know “where are the drugs?” when his dog “alerted” on the student’s car, yet failed to turn up any contraband. Saginaw?

Yes, Saginaw. The City of Grosse Pointe has the only drug-sniffing dog in the Pointes, so police personnel from all over the state were invited to participate in the North raid (and the two raids at South.) They call these “training sessions.” Although Bearden said “13 to 15” dogs participated in the North raid, the Woods would only admit the presence of 10 animals and has refused to address the discrepancy.

To assist in the search, Bearden “deputized” (his term, to our chagrin) a school employee to assist in the searches. We wonder how the “deputizing” of a teacher might affect students’ future relationships with school personnel, and upon what authority the badge was pinned.

At North, the 13-15 dogs “alerted” on 15 vehicles in the North student lot. “Alerted” is the police term for “my dog thinks it found something, so let’s make the owner unlock the car so we can snoop inside.” Every single “alert” was false. No drugs were found, despite the screaming insistence of the good officer from Saginaw. Note also the symmetry: 15 dogs, 15 “alerts.” I suppose they all got cookies afterward.

On behalf of a client, I filed a Freedom of Information Act request in the Woods seeking all details of the raid, all police reports completed by the individual officers after the raid, and specifically including the names and jurisdictions of all K9 officers, “handlers” and other departmental personnel who participated in the raid, and of great importance, I asked for the training and certification data for the K9 officers and their dogs. I also asked for a copy of the operational plan for the raid, and documents telling how the raid was coordinated among the Woods and various departments and the school system. Even before the news of the “deputizing” going on at North, I had information that school personnel were assigned to “assist” in the searches, so I also requested the policies upon which school personnel were authorized to assist in the searches.

The Woods refused my FOIA request for the reports, forcing me to file a Circuit Court lawsuit to force them to disclose the details of this police action. It has long been my experience that police departments that refuse valid requests made under the FOIA are hiding something. After many conversations and meetings with the Woods city attorney, I was given some of the information I sought. Some, but not all.

Among the many documents that the Woods claim not to have in their possession are any reports by any of the K9 officers or handlers who participated in the raid. This violates every basic police protocol. Except in ongoing criminal investigations that require arduous investigation and interviewing, forensic evidence and witness interviews, reports are usually completed the same day, while memories are fresh. This avoids the need to make stuff up later, fill in the blanks, etc.

We told Klein, Fenton, Diver and Bearden during our meeting that the K9 officers don’t file individual reports of their participation in these raids and asked if they didn’t find it of great concern that the district was allowing unknown and unidentified officers to conduct the raids and verbally abuse our children. We were assured that this would not be allowed in the future, yet six weeks later the district chose to permit another raid. Can we anticipate that black ski masks will be acceptable attire for the officers in the future? What is the practical difference between being unidentified and being hidden?

So, Grosse Pointe parents and residents, please understand that although officers and dogs from Saginaw, Buena Vista, Plymouth Township, Van Buren, Redford, Hamtramck and St. Clair Shores are now regularly raiding our schools, there exist no reports detailing their participation, findings, confiscations, contraband, nothing. None. Sorry, said the Woods, but you’ll have to check with those departments to see if they have any reports.

By the way, the Woods admitted there wasn’t even an operational plan for the November raid. During our meeting, Bearden confirmed this: There was no written plan. But, lo and behold, two months after I filed suit, an undated “Operational Plan” was forwarded to my office. The late-arriving plan listed, among others, Bearden as having supervisory authority over “B Building Administration Building First Floor.” [sic]

Emails gained during the lawsuit against Grosse Pointe Woods show that on Nov. 18, 2010, a Woods detective noted that my FOIA had been received. On Nov. 23, 2010, that same Woods detective emailed the Woods director of public safety that the report on the raids was finished and to “remember to make this a suppressed report.” Suppressed? From whom? From parents and citizens of Grosse Pointe, or just attorneys with the temerity to make FOIA inquiries on behalf of their clients?

We expressed our grave concern, shared by many citizens and students in this community, that the lack of accountability and secrecy was unacceptable. Should we allow police departments from outside the Grosse Pointes to plan and execute their secret “training sessions” in our schools? The decision has been made for you, and the answer is an unfortunate “Sure! Why not?” I analogized this to the district allowing a painting contractor into the schools without checking the background of the workers who would have contact with our children. At the meeting, those present agreed that my point was well-taken. Apparently it was not.

As far as we know, there aren’t even protocols or procedures in place for parental notification prior to questioning a student, advising the student of his or her rights, maintaining a “suspect” student’s privacy, allowing teachers or “deputies” or police to question students while in school, or even who makes the decision to seek  – or not  – criminal charges as opposed to “administrative review.”

At the time of the raid at South on March 28, I was driving to my office and saw police cars all over the place on Fisher Road. Still trying to determine which jurisdictions raided North in November, I decided to take photos of the non-Grosse Pointe police vehicles. A Farms officer, generous with his profanity, twice threatened to arrest me for interfering in a police investigation, and then stated that he was going to look for me and “find me” in the future.

Although I reported this to Farms Public Safety Director Dan Jensen that morning, I have as yet heard nothing of my complaint, other than that the officer was “having a bad day.” Personally, I don’t accept this as an excuse to drop F-bombs on citizens, and to threaten to make them targets for future police harassment.

If a Farms officer engages in threatening conduct toward an adult lawfully present in public, isn’t it likely that unidentified officers from who-knows-where may be treating our children in a similar or more aggressive fashion? Since the system doesn’t monitor or require a record of who executes these raids, how could we know?

During our meeting with school administrators, I detailed the findings of a 2010 University of California-Davis study that proved the susceptibility of K9s to outside influences, and the tendency of the dogs to react to their surroundings. Published in the January issue of the journal Animal Cognition, it was found that detection-dog teams erroneously “alerted,” or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times  – particularly when the handler thought there was scent present.

“It isn’t just about how sensitive a dog’s nose is or how well-trained a dog is,” says Lisa Lit, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology and the study’s lead author. “There are cognitive factors affecting the interaction between a dog and a handler that can impact the dog’s performance.”

“Dogs are exceptionally keen at interpreting subtle cues, so handlers need to be cognizant of that to optimize the overall team performance,” adds Anita M. Oberbauer, UC Davis chair of the Department of Animal Science and the study’s senior author.

Since K9 dogs are acutely sensitive to their own handler’s expectations, imagine the cumulative effect of 15 dogs barking and leaping about, eager to please their handlers and while in the presence of 40 officers and untold administrators and teachers. The Saginaw officer’s frustration that his puppy failed to find any drugs, and his screaming tirade at a North student proves that the K9s, their officers and “handlers” are playing at a game that is nothing more than voodoo, and our children are their pin-dolls.

Please note the scary significance of the Woods public safety department’s refusal to provide any data in response to my FOIA lawsuit demanding 1) the K9’s performance history, 2) their training, if any; 3) their record of reliability and false “alerts,” 4) certifications, if any, to conduct narcotics sweeps; 5) the name of the certifying agencies, if any; 6) experience and length of time the dogs have been in service, 7) and the same data for the officers and “handlers.” Does anyone know what is going on here? And if they do, why won’t they tell us?

The system’s sanctioning of drug raids under these circumstances is irresponsible as well as a potential liability nightmare; among many other possibilities, are we comfortable enough to bet that a student will not be bitten or mauled by a dog? If we are, can we still justify the raids on a cost/benefit basis that weighs the damage to our children’s perception of law enforcement? In light of the minimal “success” that these operations have generated (three small amounts of marijuana in three raids) and the now indisputable disrespect with which the raids are conducted, do we really need to allow these “training exercises” to disrupt the atmosphere of our schools? Do we subordinate the value of our learning environment to the whims of a dog team?

A final, but I believe, important, point: contrary to assumptions about our motives and the scuttlebutt and name-calling that has permeated recent Grosse Pointe Fraternal Order of Police Lodge meetings, we are not “cop-haters” nor are we “sleazy attorneys.” We have no financial interest in our investigation into these raids; we are acting pro bono. I made it clear at the February meeting that we have no interest in a civil rights suit over the incidents at North, nor do we represent anyone with such a plan. We are not even being paid to make these inquiries. We are concerned citizens and parents.

Personally, I support the idea of drug sweeps. I cannot, though, support the Wild West attitude that is tolerated as the system permits these raids to occur in our schools under the current scheme of blind ignorance and complete deference to law enforcement. If Grosse Pointe City can prove that Sgt. Michael Almeranti and K9 Raleigh have been properly trained, then with proper procedures in place why not have them occasionally walk the parking lots? It doesn’t have to be a “made for TV” spectacle, replete with lockdowns and secret officers of unknown identity and police vehicles parked and double-parked everywhere.

All we want is information. Nothing more. We are entitled to it. Superintendent Klein has spent her entire career in the dedicated service of teaching and leading and ensuring that information  – the basis of any educational effort  – be freely and effectively disseminated. Refusing to even address the valid concerns of parents and students, closing the door on the information that we seek, and then turning a blind eye and allowing police to operate as clandestine agents showing up at our schools commando-style, is shameful and makes the district complicit in all that is being hidden from the parents and citizens of our community. Dr. Klein’s tolerance of these raids is completely baffling in light of her otherwise outstanding record of service to the great Grosse Pointe Public School System.

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