Ypsilanti Police Department

Mental health and water and sewage rates were main topics of discussion during Tuesday night’s Ypsilanti city council meeting.  

Community policing will be a main topic of discussion Monday night during an Ypsilanti city council meeting.  

Ypsilanti’s city council is considering making cuts to balance the city’s budget.  

The recent police-related shootings across the country have sparked conversations about race and policing in Washtenaw County.

The City of Ypsilanti recently held a public forum on the issue to determine what they need to do about it.

I spoke with Gail Wolkoff, the founder of Dedicated To Make A Change, a youth empowerment group in Ypsilanti.  She was at the forum and gives her take of the situation.

Hundreds of Ypsilanti residents filled the city’s high school auditorium Monday night for a community forum on policing and violence.

The Ypsilanti Police-Community Relations Black Lives Matter Task Force is meeting in hopes of hearing from the community and dive more deeply into local policy change in light of recent police shootings around the country.

I spoke with Ypsilanti Mayor Amanda Edmonds about the meeting.  She says growing interest in the task force has prompted them to move it to a bigger venue to accommodate more people and let concerned citizens have a voice.

The public is invited to a "Police-Community Relations/Black Lives Matter Task Force meeting" tonight in Ypsilanti, which had a recent change in venue. 

Ypsilanti City Council members will vote later today on the city’s budget for the next fiscal year.

Local faith leaders held a forum on creating better relationships between police and Washtenaw County residents.

The Ypsilanti Police Department and the Black Lives Matter Joint Task Force meets tonight and officials want the public to attend.

  Ypsilanti residents can now weigh in on how the city's police department can improve by taking an online survey.

Ypsilanti City Council has approved spending about $55,000 to buy 15 body-worn cameras for the police department.  The money will also pay for an upgrade to the department's in-car video system.

Ypsilanti City Council Tuesday night will consider paying for body-worn cameras for the police department.

Chief Tony DiGiusti is asking for $54,634 to not only pay for 15 body-worn cameras, but to upgrade the department's in-car video system. 

City Council will also consider transferring ownership of two parcels of land to the Ypsilanti Housing Commission to be used in part as offices where low-income residents can have access to the Internet and Family Empowerment Program counselors.

Ypsilanti residents have the chance to learn more about their pubic safety departments at a public forum Thursday evening.  The forum will include presentations from the police and fire departments, along with emergency preparedness, code enforcement and the prosecuting attorney.

The meeting is called "Public Safety: How it Really Works." 

State Representative David Rutledge has formally introduced a collaborative effort to address public safety, an effort at least partially in response to a rash of crimes on Washtenaw County's east side, including the killing of Eastern Michigan University student athlete Demarius Reed, 

Ypsilanti officials say they have received a substantial number of applications to be the next deputy police chief. 

Applications for the position will be accepted through the end of the week. 

City Manager Ralph Lange says while chief Tony DeGiusti will be the face of the department in the community, the deputy chief has a big role as well.  He says the deputy police chief is responsible for the operations of the department and putting in place the policies and procedures the chief develops with the community.

DeGiusti was hired as deputy chief about a year ago but has now become Ypsilanti's police chief.  Lange says he and DeGiusti will review the applications and conduct one or two rounds of interviews, with a hire expected within 60 days.

About 50 people turned out last night for a public forum introducing the two finalists to be Ypsilanti's next Chief of Police. 

Deputy Chief Tony DiGiusti is one of the finalists.  He said his 13 years of experience as a deputy chief and administrator have prepared him for the job.

DiGiusti's been interim Chief since Amy Walker left to take a job in the private sector in October.