- City of Lansing Police Department
-
City of Lansing Police Department Common name Lansing Police Department Abbreviation LPD 
Patch of the City of Lansing Police Department. Agency overview Formed 1893 Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Jurisdictional structure Operations jurisdiction* City of Lansing in the state of Michigan, USA Size 33 square miles (85 km2) Population 114,297 General nature Operational structure Headquarters Lansing, Michigan Police Officers 179 (179 Authorized) Agency executive Teresa Szymanski, Chief of Police Facilities Stations 2 Precincts City Lockups 1 German Shepherds 6 Website www.lansingpolice.com Footnotes * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. The Lansing Police Department (LPD) is a full-service law enforcement agency servicing a population of 114,297 people in 33 square miles (85 km2) of the municipality of Lansing, MI.[1]
Contents
History
Lansing Police Car
When the department was formed in 1893, its first chief, John Stanford, only had 12 officers with which to patrol his 8 district area.[citation needed] The department, like most others, was based on the NYPD which is based on the Metropolitan Police in London. The city marshals had the responsibility of their own district, and the chief was responsible for checking on his officers via bike. Since the chief had no way of tracking the officers, his job was quite difficult.[citation needed]
Officers Lost in the Line of Duty
Through the many years of serving the Lansing area the department has lost 5 officers in the line of duty:
- Alexander Lang-1932
- Gottlieb Sohn-1943
- Mac J. Donnelly Jr.-1977
- Dean A. Whitehead-1985
- Julie A. Englehardt-1988
Organization
As of 2011, the Chief of Police is Teresa Szymanski, appointed by a board of Police Commissioners. Following the July, 2011 lay-offs, the city currently has 179 sworn officers and various civilian support staff.[2]
The LPD is divided into two precincts: North and South, along with a central HQ. The Patrol Division operates out of the North Precinct, while the Investigations Division operates out of the South Precinct. The Central Precinct houses the Ingham County Dispatch Center, LPD City Lockup and various other support positions in the department.[3]
Patrol Division operates under Captain Michael Yankowski. Patrol is responsible for manning 14 Team Areas (Districts) which divide the city based on population and crime statistics. [4]
Budget & Crime Issues
The City of Lansing has suffered greatly from the budget crisis in Michigan. After a substantial loss in state revenue sharing and the close failure of a city millage in the spring of 2011--which would have generated much needed funds for public safety--the mayor announced he would move forward with an "all cuts" budget for FY2012. His budget includes controversial lay-offs of more than forty police officers and dozens of firefighters [5]
On July 1st, 2011, the city laid-off 36 police officers and 11 firefighters along with the closure of 2 fire stations. Both departments were able to save some positions through union concessions; however, many lay-offs still took effect. At 6:30AM, when the last of the laid-off officers turned in their badge and gun, 36 pairs of boots were lined up atop the Patrol Division line-up room--each belonging to one of the laid-off officers. The lay-offs were the first public safety lay-offs in the history of the city. [6]
In 2011, it was announced that the City of Lansing was ranked as the 24th most dangerous city in America based on the FBI's violent crime statistics in 2010. [7]
Internal Controversies
Beginning in 2009, several allegations have been brought against the department for crimes such as Abuse of LEIN; there has also been a steep increase in the number of complaints against officers, primarily for Excessive force, Unlawful detainment, Unlawful Search & Seizure, as well as various other charges.
In November of 2009, a Lansing Police Officer Tased a handcuffed man after a brief scuffle. The incident was caught on two separate police dash cams. Although the subject physically resisted the officers, he was Tased after he became compliant. The video ultimately revealed that the officer used excessive force and he was suspended without pay for two weeks. [8]
On January 30, 2010 Members of Michigan Open Carry were eating at a local Ponderosa Steakhouse in Lansing, Michigan when the local police department came and forced the citizens to leave. A person rumored to be a United States Marine was carrying an AR-15 at this open carry event. A brief verbal argument ensued between the leader of the open carry group and the Lansing Police Department. No arrests were made; however new department policy was developed after the incident because the officers conducted an unlawful detainment. A large sum of the incident was captured on video and can be seen *here[9] [10].
In April of 2010, a Lansing Police Officer was placed under investigation for misuse of LEIN (the Law Enforcement Information Network). The officer was eventually fired for her actions. [11]
In December of 2010, another Lansing Police Officer attempted to purchase gasoline and wine from a gas station while off-duty. When he tried to pay, his credit card was declined; however, he flashed his police identification and told the clerk he would return later. The officer never returned and was not compliant when contacted by Eaton County Sheriff's Deputies, reports said. The officer used his ID to make several other transactions at various locations as well. Eventually, the officer was arrested and ultimately fired from the department in February of 2011. [12]
Shifts
When the Department moved all of Patrol to the North Precinct, an A-Shift and B-Shift system was developed. Under this system, the Day A Shift is 5:30AM-5:30PM, the Day B Shift is 6:30AM-6:30PM, the Night A Shift is 5:30PM-5:30AM and the Night B Shift is 6:30PM-6:30AM. This helped solve safety concerns caused by having only one shift covering the entire city on the previous system.[13]
On December 26, 2009 the department switched to two 12 hour shifts. The North Precinct goes from 6am-6pm (North Days) and 6pm-6am (North Nights). The South Precinct goes from 6:30am–6:30pm (South Days) and 6:30pm–6:30am (South Nights). Each shift has a brief "line-up" which briefs the officers on daily crime information. While the North Days has its line-up, South Nights covers the Northend, and then North Days moves south to while South Days has its lineup. The same is for the nightshifts. This was done in an effort to balance the city's budget deficit.[14]
Formerly, the department had three 10 hour shifts. The first shift was from 6:00am to 4:00pm and was called "days". The Second shift began at 3:00pm and ended at 1:00am and was called "noons". The final shift began at 8:30pm and ended at 6:30am and was called "nights". Noons and Nights overlaped from 8:30pm–1:00am due to the high volume of calls for service during that period. Each shift began with an approximately 30 minute "line-up" which was a briefing on daily crime stats and information.Divisions
LPD has several divisions and special assignments. The main division is the Patrol Division which is staffed by Patrol Officers working the road in Police Cars. These officers use the call signs "Adam" for a single officer patrol car, and "Boston" for a two officer patrol car. Other divisions and special assignments include:[15]
- Investigations Division, Formally The Detective Bureau. "DB" for short. Detectives use their badge numbers for call signs.
- Special Events (Motorcycles (Call sign "Mary") in summer, cars (Call sign "Tom") in winter)
- START (Special Tactics and Rescue Team. LPD SWAT team)
- K-9 Unit (Call sign "K9")
- Tri-County Metro (The three county narcotics squad(Call sign "Nora")
- School Resource Officers (Call sign "Sam")
- Court Security (Dissolved)
- Internal Affairs
- Dive Team
- Crime Scene Investigations (Call sign is Car 62)
- Detention Unit (For the LPD lockup, located in HQ)
- Negotiators (Part of the START team)
- Command (Sergeants-Chief (use their 300 series badge numbers as call signs))
- Community Policing Officers ("CPOs" for short (Call sign "Frank"))
- Special Operations Section ("SOS" for short (Call sign "Ocean"))
- Law Enforcement Exploring Post #911 (Call sign "Echo")[16][17]
See also
References
- ^ Lansing Police
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/police/
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/police/
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/police/north_precinct.jsp
- ^ http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110520/NEWS01/105200328/Completion-Lansing-city-budget-hinges-upon-union-concessions
- ^ http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/Lansing_Police_Seeing_Effects_of_Layoffs_Already_124888389.html
- ^ http://www.joysco.com/index.php/latest-searches/business-insider/37167-the-25-most-dangerous-cities-in-america
- ^ http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-lansing-officer-suspended,0,4907434.story
- ^ http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/83486052.html
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YilytOvgbrU
- ^ http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/90175522.html
- ^ http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110412/NEWS01/104120315/Ex-Lansing-officer-sentenced-gas-incidents?odyssey=mod%7Cmostcom
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/Lansing/police/docs/Teams/Teamlist_1_16___November_2010.pdf
- ^ http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1587288/Michigan.News/Lansing.Police.Layoffs.Averted.
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/police/specialized_units.jsp
- ^ http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?action=codes&code_id=2005
- ^ http://www.lansingmi.gov/police/specialized_units.jsp
External references
Categories:- Law enforcement agencies of Michigan
- Municipal police departments of Michigan
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