A week after Ann Arbor Police Chief Michael Cox was put on paid administrative leave, several community stakeholders expressed concern that they are still in the dark about what happened and why.
WEMU's Lisa Barry spoke with the chair of the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission, Dr. Lisa Jackson, about those concerns.
Ann Arbor’s City Administrator, Howard Lazarus, placed Michael Cox, the city’s chief of police, on leave on February 8th.
No official reason for the leave has been given to the public, other than to say it is due to “a personal matter.”
The commission’s chair, Lisa Jackson, says the lack of information is problematic and that the police chief’s reputation is at stake.
“We are very concerned. We are very worried. The chief hasn’t been here long enough to do much that’s egregious, and so, it’s a little challenging for us to kind of figure out what’s going on,” Jackson says.
Jackson says when she spoke to Lazarus about the chief’s leave earlier this week, all he told her was that this does not involve any kind of sexual misconduct.
The commission’s next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 18, the same night Ann Arbor’s City Councilis meeting.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu