INKSTER, MI — On February 29, 2012, the city of Inkster sealed its fate. That day the city’s elected officials signed a Consent Agreement with the state of Michigan, one of its many versions of the state’s Emergency Manager and local dictatorship polices. The people advocated against the state’s intrusive and usurping legislation that strips common people from their ability to govern themselves; and for the city of Inkster to stand on those similar principles. When facing the barrel of a gun in the midst of a robbery, what good can the bystander do on behalf of the victim? In Inkster’s view: there wasn’t much.
Like many more communities across Michigan, Inkster’s immediate financial reality was to seduce the municipality to consent to an agreement that would impose drastic financial cuts. Soon the city would adopt an auxiliary police force to complement its own shrinking force of 24, down from 60. This force, with help from Wayne County Sheriff Department’s SCOUT (Sheriff’s Community Organized Urban Team) program, would assist their immediate safety needs. This effort would recruit nearly 45 auxiliary officers to calm the community; one of these officers was Mr. William Melendez.
Mr. Melendez entered the city of Inkster with a checkered past, one that included planting evidence and excessive force as a member of the Detroit Police Department.
Fast forward to January 28, 2015 when Mr. Melendez would meet fifty-seven year old Mr. Floyd Dent, a two-decade senior of the American auto manufacturing workforce. After pulling over Mr. Dent for a routine traffic stop, Mr. Dent was pulled from his automobile, struck over fifteen times in the head by Officer Melendez as his partner watched in one of Inkster’s neighborhoods known for heavy drug activity. The brutality and excessive force weighed against Mr. Dent is inexcusable; the charges levied against him through a judicial process tainted by corruption bring insult to injury. Melendez would continue to patrol Inkster’s streets almost another two months until the dash cam video of his altercation with Mr. Dent made national news, then only being relegated to administrative duty. It is unknown how many more commuters and residents have fallen victim to actions like this from officers like Mr. Melendez.
On April 10, Mr. Melendez was terminated from Inkster’s police force, two months after his documented excessive force and brutality. The state of Michigan and Michigan State Police must be held accountable to the social and economic climate surrounding Inkster. The city’s shrinking and current patchwork agencies providing public safety duties are a direct result of the drastic cuts of the municipality’s budget under its 2012 consent agreement.
The state of Michigan must take responsibility for exploiting financial distress and majority-minority communities for takeover and receivership. At the local level, citizens must be ready to recall and replace elected officials who place political expediency over good policy. Those who prefer to act without it, foregoing self-determination and local governance, cannot lead working class communities. They are no different than auxiliary officers occupying foreign places.
Brandon A. Jessup is C.E.O. of Michigan Forward Urban Affairs Group
