Dearborn Police call in feds for training, recruitment

DEARBORN, Mich. (WJBK) - Dearborn's Police Chief is calling in the Feds to retrain officers and change the way his department recruits in the wake of two being shot and killed by Dearborn police officers.

Two unarmed African-Americans were shot and killed by Dearborn police over the span of just one month. Three months later, their families are still waiting for answers about if the officers will face charges. Now they're turning to Federal authorities for advice.

"For a multitude of reasons, people may not trust the police or the government." Chief Ronald Haddad said.

Two reasons might be over the two recent shootings by Dearborn cops just 33 days apart, and now the feds are taking a look. Kevin Matthews was shot by a Dearborn cop just two days before Christmas. In January, Janet Wilson, a schizophrenic, was shot and killed - also by a Dearborn cop.

That's prompted U.S. Prosecutor Barbara McQuade to step in.

"I want to take some action to make sure we're doing everything right here to try to improve our processes so that we don't have problems going forward," Barbara McQuade.

The feds will likely be in Dearborn until the end of the year. Specifically, the office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will review procedures used by Dearborn Police.

"We belief this is the best response for Dearborn, " Noble Wray, COPS Director, said.

Haddad said the officers are still on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigations from the prosecutor.

The federal COPS Will develop a recruitment strategy. The department currently has 14 African American and 16 Arabic officer on the job.

"The key is to have more people of arab descent apply for the job," Haddad said.

The departments use of force policy will be reviewed, something Haddad is confident in.

"We think we have a very sound policy but I want the Department of Justice's office to review that," Haddad

Under the law police officers are allowed to use deadly force but they have to be confronted with deadly force. Haddad went on to say that the community deserves answers.

Both cases are still under investigation.