The Untouchables: Multi-Agency Police Task Forces

[XLFD]

Back in 2015, I was in the midst of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit with the City of Ludington (COL) and in the process discovered a major loophole in Michigan's public records laws.  An LPD officer serving on an interjurisdictional 'task force' called SSCENT (State, Sheriffs, Chiefs Enforcement of Narcotics Team) had made an incident report for the arrest of a man caught by a seemingly-illegal sting operation dealing with medical marijuana (described in more detail here) as did an LPD officer not serving on the task force.  

Early on, the COL realized they had no lawful way to prevent the latter report from being disclosed and ceded those records, however, they claimed not to have possession of the records made by the LPD's SSCENT officer.  And even though the Michigan State Police (MSP) effectively head the task force, they weren't providing the records either, nor could I effectively get it from the nebulous SSCENT task force which claims itself not to be a public entity in their multi-agency agreement, even though it appears to be a 'public body' as defined by the FOIA in MCL 15.232(h)(iv).  

The controversy became a moot point when the other report was received through discovery by the 'stung' man in his criminal case, so rather than continue prosecuting for records I already had access to, I agreed to settle with the COL and recovered all of my costs and disbursements since the court action was necessary to get the records I had received.  Ironically, the report I received was never disclosed by discovery even though it should have been by the county prosecutor.

Michigan has the worst record among states in transparency issues, ergo it's near impossible to use the limited powers of the Michigan FOIA and the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and the loopholes in each exploited by public bodies and granted authority by state courts to uncover public records or hold public bodies to account.  This becomes exponentially tougher when a group of public officials from different agencies get together, form a 'task force' and claim the collection of public officials and their public records are somehow immune to the FOIA and the OMA.

This immunity from accountability extends even beyond the two main mechanisms for transparency, it can also make multi-agency police forces effectively immune from prosecution for criminal misconduct on their part.  Consider the case of the violent arrest of the innocent young Grand Valley State University student, James King in 2014.  

Task force members from the FBI and the Grand Rapids Police Department misidentified King as a fugitive.  According to King, the plainclothes officials didn't identify themselves but asked him questions, then pinned him against their SUV and took his wallet. King says he thought he was being mugged and attempted to run.

The two officers then attacked King and beat him unconscious. and then—even after it was clear they had the wrong man—arrested James King and charged him with a series of felonies to cover up their mistake. After fighting a criminal prosecution aimed at preventing King from vindicating his constitutional rights and sending him to prison, James was eventually acquitted in 2015, driving his family into bankruptcy to get there.

King filed a lawsuit in 2016, accusing the two officers, Todd Allen of the Grand Rapids Police Department and FBI Special Agent Douglas Brownback, of violating his Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.  However, neither the federal, state or local (Grand Rapids) police agencies were willing to say that the officers were operating under their jurisdictions.  Even though the investigation and the crime wasn't a federal crime or the result of a federal investigation, the officers nevertheless attempted to claim federal immunity in Michigan courts and were successful.

A filing in the federal appeals court reversed the worst parts of that decision, but the government attorneys have now taken James King’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to shield the officers from any accountability for violently and negligently violating King's basic rights-- doing so with immunities that would not apply had there not been a two-agency task force response.  Here is a video produced by King's attorneys explaining their side of the case:

The Supreme Court will hopefully do the right thing for this innocent victim of police brutality, but even if they don't, there are a few things that our state and federal legislators can do to prevent this lack of accountability in the future.  We must insist on rules limiting and governing the powers of multi-agency police forces. We must insist that any such 'task force' comply with the FOIA (or at least specify that 'task forces' are public bodies).  We must insist that any task force's bylaws give officers only the immunities granted to them from the agency they represent outside the task force.  

If we don't, law officials will continue their trend and continue to organize task forces made up of local police, deputies, troopers and special agents that are truly untouchable.  

 

[Willy]

Stories like this make me cringe because there are far to many of them that we do not know about. How many people have gone to jail or plead to a crime they did not commit? This and stories like this are some of the reasons I don't like to call law enforcement personnel heroes. It's just not the 2 criminal cops that tried to frame this young man but the whole system that wrapped themselves around those cops in order to protect them and we the tax payers are footing the bill for this farce. This case closely mirrors Trumps situation. He has been accused of wrong doing which has been proven false but they keep coming after him along with his group of politicians who have been caught up in this historical traitorous coup attempt. I used to respect the law but it looks like people should fear it more than respect it if those who are are pledged to uphold it can corrupt it in such a sinister way. Just think that this poor student, the President of the United States and the common citizen must fear those that are sworn to protect us and who have been given the power of life and death over us. Not a pleasant thought. You have given us much to think about X.