Dangerous Trend in Militarized Police: Michigan Township Residents Fight Against Police Militarization

DELTON — Early morning May 10, Jack Nadwornik stepped behind Tujax Tavern, the bar and restaurant he has owned for 30 years in this small, western Michigan town.
Nadwornik, out drinking with friends for his 58th birthday, urinated in a corner of the empty parking lot because the bar was locked up.
Within seconds, two Barry Township police cars and three officers — two of them unpaid reserves — confronted him as he was zipping up his pants. What happened next is up for debate: Police said he resisted arrest. Nadwornick said he didn’t, and a waitress who was leaving work agreed.
What everyone does agree on is the aftermath: Nadwornik had a broken hand from a police baton, bloody elbows, and he had been kneed in the back. He was handcuffed, jailed and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, a two-year felony.
His treatment outraged many Delton residents who know Nadwornik for his food drives at local churches. They’ve packed recent township board meetings, demanding a Michigan State Police investigation.

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Pierce’s critics say there have been other examples of aggressive policing lately, and question why Pierce needs nearly three dozen, non-certified reserve officers to protect a population of 3,900 with the most serious crimes generally theft and burglary.
The department also has two Humvees and two armored personnel carriers received free of charge from the U.S. Department of Defense for a township with only four full-time officers.

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Until a couple of years ago, the police in the community were a comfortable presence, providing a gentle reminder to pay attention to the rules. The township employed two or three full-time officers. Few speeding tickets were issued, residents recall. Instead, the officer would flash his lights and tell the motorist to slow down.
Jacobs remembers, as a teenager, being picked up for drinking. The officer gave him a lecture and handed him over to his parents.
But shortly after the last Barry Township police chief, Mark Kik, died in 2009, things began to change. There were more reports of teenage drivers being pulled over for minor transgressions, like dice hanging from the rearview mirror. Cars were towed even when owners offered to move them. 

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20140804/NEWS06/308040024/Berry-Township-aggressive-policing