City Leaders Present Detailed Review of Police Shootings

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids city leaders received a comprehensive review Tuesday of 12 officer-involved shootings that occurred over the past five years, a presentation prompted by the February death of Da'Quain Johnson.

Grand Rapids Interim Police Chief Joe Trigg said he could not comment on Johnson's case or the high-profile case of Patrick Lyoya because they are still being litigated.

The review, which dates back to 2022, summarized key facts from the incidents, including time and location, whether the individual involved was known to have a weapon, the number of officers present, and the use of de-escalation and less-lethal force.

Kent County Prosecutor Ruled in Favor of Officers

According to Trigg, the Kent County Prosecutor ruled that the officers' actions were justified in 10 of the 12 cases.

"I stand behind our department and our policies, and we hold our men and women to it right," Trigg said.

City Manager Mark Washington said, despite the ongoing litigation in two cases, it is important for neighbors to know about the other incidents.

"Trigg helped us understand the circumstances, the reasons why use of force was used, and looking at some of the other trends around the use of force of the officers, but also correlating that with violence in general, in the city," Washington said.

Correlating Shootings With Guns on the Street

Trigg highlighted the dangers officers face in the field, noting that officers have been seizing around 500 guns annually since 2022. He correlated the dangers of officer-involved shootings to the number of guns taken off the street.

"I'm correlating it with the times that there's a lot more guns on the street this day, so there's a lot more potential for violence," Trigg said. "Right during my times of when I was an officer working the street, the numbers were quite low, as I discussed, that more than half."

Personal Connection to Police Shootings

Trigg said he knows personally about the dangers officers face. In 2007, his partner and friend, Officer Robert Kozminski, was shot and killed while responding to a call.

"We had to lay a friend and coworker to rest in this uniform. So my motivation is to make sure that our department is held in a high regard, and to make sure on the flip side of that, make sure our men and women, they have a high standard and they represent this department well," Trigg said.

"As I said, Officer Kozminski is not here to polish his badge anymore. It is on us to keep it polished by adhering to policies, state law and keeping high expectation that we have as an agency," Trigg added.

Ongoing Reviews Continue

The city added that other reviews are ongoing, including a look at Grand Rapids Police Department pursuit policies and how the internal affairs unit handles misconduct allegations.

Washington said those conversations could happen later this spring or this summer.

The request for the review first came during the Feb. 24 Public Safety Committee meeting, about a week after a GRPD officer shot and killed Johnson and about a week before Eric Winstrom's final day as chief.

"I believe that the community does have a right, in all sincerity, to explore since 2022, those 12 police involved shootings in some particular way," Grand Rapids Public Safety Committee member Rev. Dr. Willie A. Gholston II said.

"We're all accountable in some particular way. Citizens are accountable, police are accountable, we all are accountable," Gholston said.