AG Dana Nessel wants new central agency for police oversight, more transparency

FOX 2 - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel wants legislation on the books that would increase transparency surrounding law enforcement - and ensure accountability.

Nessel brought up how the Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd had 18 excessive force complaints filed against him - yet he was still an officer of the law. In Michigan she wants legislation that increases transparency surrounding law enforcement and ensure accountability.

"A lack of oversight over police officers and police agencies as a whole and I think that contributes to some of the problems we've seen," Nessel said. "Hold them to the same standards as any other kind of profession. It is important because remember, most other professions don't have the ability to legally take another person's life. You are giving a somebody a badge, a gun, you should have proper oversight over that individual." 

Nessel wants a central agency to provide that oversight just like there is for attorneys, doctors, CPAs and many other professions.

Among the police reform proposals, she wants to authorize MCOLES which is the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards to suspend or revoke an officer's license.

There would also be a statewide misconduct registry for officers that would be accessible to the public.

In a statement, the director of the Michigan State Police called Nessel's reforms a "positive step forward." Nessel is looking for the same support from police unions.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel

"This isn't a matter of holding them to a higher or even a different standard than other professions, it is just holding them to the same standards," she said.

When it comes to the controversial topic of defunding police officers, Nessel calls the idea outrageous. With her reform, she wants more education and training for officers as a license requirement.    

"I think we have been defunding the police for years, we have been taking away the training that they need," Nessel said. "We aren't always hiring the highest caliber of police officers because we don't pay them enough. We don't provide them with the benefits they need to put their life on the line."