I want to thank Alex Bozarjian from Channel 7 for reaching out and interviewing me about the petition.

https://www.wxyz.com/news/ufc-fighter-wears-local-police-uniform-in-promotional-video-prompting-investigation

I want to add on that the main concerns I personally have are these:

1. That everyone, especially the more vulnerable among us, can feel safe in our community (whether residents or just passing through).  When officers give out uniforms for others to wear it creates a situation where we just can't know who is actually a police officer.  This is a real concern especially for women, as there are many incidents of men using police gear to trick women and then assault them.  
   
   Here's some recent news stories illustrating these concerns. Consider how much worse these could have been if the impersonators had legitimate uniforms from a local department.
   
   -https://www.wxyz.com/news/man-accused-of-impersonating-cop-speaks-to-7-action-news-about-the-incident
   
   -https://www.wxyz.com/news/rochester-police-searching-for-possible-officer-impersonator-after-woman-pulled-over
   
   -https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/detroit-police-search-for-man-impersonating-an-officer-in-connection-with-a-non-fatal-shooting
   
   
2. That our community can trust our police department to fairly enforce local, state, and federal laws. Policing requires fairness to actually lead to improvements in crime rates. This recent study from Yale shows that when authorities put more personal investment in, even when it depletes their resources, it directly impacts and increases community members' engagement in and contribution to the public good. Read the study here: Fairness key to police officers gaining civilians’ respect
   
   With the recent turnover and changes in our department, residents are already struggling to trust our police. We need the police department, as well as Dearborn Heights' elected officials, to really take the time to learn about HOW to rebuild trust and then be willing to put the WORK into rebuilding.
   
   ICMA (International City/County Management Association) has a good article that can serve as a starting point for learning more about rebuilding trust.  Read that here: 21 Conditions for Building Trust between Police and the Community

Resolving these concerns requires the police department to:
1. Be open and transparent about what occurred with this specific situation
2. Be transparent about what new policies they are putting into place to prevent this from occurring again 
3. Be accountable for this incident by formally apologizing to the community and by enforcing any necessary disciplinary action

I hope we will hear an update from Chief Hart this week, as he indicated in his comments to WXYZ.