SAFE AT HOME
Bill Freehan lies on a hospital bed in the middle of the room. ❚ The World
Series is on the TV. ❚ “Boston is playing,” Pat Freehan tells Bill, her hus-
band. ❚ But she doesn’t know whether he can fully understand her.
Freehan, one of the greatest De- der the care of Hospice of Michigan at
troit Tigers ever, cannot walk, cannot his home in northern Michigan.
speak and cannot eat on his own. Pat Freehan, Bill’s wife of 55 years,
“Is he aware?” Pat asks. “I don’t is his primary caregiver.
know. Those are the things you don’t If Bill Freehan was an example of
know.” how to play the game the right way, Bill
Jeff Seidel
She pauses. how to live life with character, then Freehan
“But his World Series trophy is on Columnist his wife is teaching us something FAMILY
the mantel,” she says. Detroit even more important. It is a beautiful PHOTO
Fifty years after helping the Tigers Free Press lesson in sacrifice, love and devotion.
win the 1968 World Series, Bill Free- USA TODAY
han suffers from dementia and is un- NETWORK See SEIDEL, Page 6A
LIKE COPS
No Lewerke?
‘horrific’ Pittsburgh attack
No problem
for Spartans! Rick Jervis, Sean Rossman
and Candy Woodall
Rocky Lombardi made his first USA TODAY
start at QB and led MSU to a
bounce-back win over Purdue. A gunman opened fire during a baby-nam-
3,000 civilian officers operate with no state oversight ing ceremony Saturday at a Pittsburgh syna-
gogue, killing at least 11 people and wounding
six others, including four police officers who
responded to the scene, authorities said.
BUT THEY
Police identified Robert Bowers, 46, as the
suspect in Saturday’s “horrific” mass shooting.
Police arrested Bowers after the rampage,
according to The Associated Press. Three of the
wounded officers were shot, according to the
Pittsburgh Public Safety Department.
Today’s marijuana
Inside today’s Free Press
❚ Obituaries .....16-17A, 24-26A
Gina Kaufman and Jim Schaefer Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY NETWORK
too potent for
❚ Editorial .........................21-23A
❚ Business .............................1-5B
They have guns, wear badges and patrol Michigan’s streets. ❚ They’re
even in uniform. But they’re not real cops. ❚ Across Michigan, police de-
recreational use?
❚ Puzzles ................................2-3L
Kathleen Gray Detroit Free Press
partments have enlisted civilians to work alongside licensed officers to pa- USA TODAY NETWORK
trol communities and even assist real cops with arrests. But unlike the reg-
Weather Working from a list of Detroit voters recent-
ular officers licensed by the state, these armed civilians are unregulated.
ly, Wynona Moss had a simple question for the
High 49° ❚ Low 39°
person she was talking to on her cell phone:
Cloudy, a shower. Forecast, 2A
A Detroit Free Press investigation thority last year to do just that — and “Did you know that today’s drug is much more
found there are no state-established has no idea how many such unli- potent than in the ’80s?”
training requirements for reserve of- censed volunteers there are state- “The THC level in highly potent marijuana
Sunday $2.00 ficers, as they are commonly known; wide. edibles is not regulated,” said the 45-year-old
no standards for screening their This lack of oversight continues Warren resident, reading from a script provid-
qualifications, and no process for despite numerous incidents of ques- ed by Healthy and Productive Michigan, the
monitoring their conduct. The state tionable — even illegal — conduct by political action committee formed to oppose
Volume 188 | No. 177 ©2018
agency responsible for police licens- reserve officers in recent years. the ballot proposal that would legalize mari-
Home delivery pricing inside
Subscribe: 800-395-3300
ing and training is not regulating re- juana for adult recreational use in Michigan.
Classified: 586-977-7500; serve officers — despite gaining au- See COPS, Page 12A
800-926-8237 See MARIJUANA, Page 7A
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12A ❚ SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018 ❚ DETROIT FREE PRESS
Robert Bates, a former Oklahoma volunteer sheriff’s deputy who said he mistook his handgun for his stun gun when he fatally shot an unarmed suspect in 2015, is escorted from the courtroom
following his sentencing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2016. Bates, who was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, was sentenced to four years. SUE OGROCKI/AP
They look
Continued from Page 1A where he worked as a security guard.
Police officers are trained to make impor-
The Free Press found, among other prob- tant decisions under stressful conditions
lems, a convicted felon who could not legally and, sometimes, the choices they make are
Some troubles in Michigan There are more than 3,000 civilian officers in Michigan. Other states have them, too, and Barry Township isn’t unique in Michigan.
some set training standards and regulations. Michigan does not. There also was controversy in the village
Inkster reserve officer John Zieleniewski of Oakley, with its 300 residents and 150-
was there the night Officer William Melendez member reserve force of wealthy movers and
beat motorist Floyd Dent — an action that shakers; there was the reserve officer in the
cost the city nearly $1.4 million and landed town of Grant, who had been writing traffic
Melendez in prison. Zieleniewski, who Ink- tickets he had no authority to write; and a
ster said is no longer an auxiliary officer, as Prairieville Township reserve officer arrested
they are called there, can be seen in the dash while in uniform for soliciting sex in ex-
cam video helping Melendez yank Dent from change for drugs.
the driver’s seat. As the conduct of reserve officers made
When Zieleniewski testified at Melen- headlines around Michigan in recent years,
dez’s trial, he admitted in testimony that he MCOLES successfully pushed for legislation
had used a racial slur in multiple text mes- giving it the authority to set standards for re-
sages about the community’s black resi- serve officers.
dents. “I think it’s really important that we have
Attempts to reach Zieleniewski for com- Jervis Daniel Dennis Alexander a minimum level of standards when you put
ment were unsuccessful. somebody out there representing law en-
❚ Became a Highland Park reserve officer ❚ Was a reserve for the Sand City, Calif.,
Over in Highland Park, which is only forcement,” said state Sen. Tonya Schuit-
despite felony conviction police department when he accidentally
about 3 square miles, the police department maker, R-Lawton, who sponsored the legis-
fired his handgun in March during a class
has about 35 licensed full- and part-time of- ❚ Carried a gun, walked the beat and lation.
he was teaching on gun safety
ficers and, as of July, had 55 reserve officers. assisted licensed cops But that won’t happen soon.
In recent years, Highland Park had a reserve ❚ Bullet fired into the ceiling, debris hit This puts Michigan behind other states
❚ Records show he stopped reporting to
officer fire a gun into the air three times dur- and slightly injured some students that already have requirements for reserve
his parole agent at some point and was
ing a dispute while off duty and another had officers on the books.
arrested. Police found his gun and ❚ Resigned from the police force and his
a run-in with Dearborn police while off duty In 2016, a member of the International As-
Highland Park badge teaching job at the school
and working security at a bar. sociation of Directors of Law Enforcement
Highland Park once had its own reserve Standards and Training surveyed states
officer academy. City officials have said the about their regulation of reserve officers. Of
program is no longer active. 24 jurisdictions that responded, more than
Highland Park Police Chief Chester Lo- half reported they had state-mandated
gan, who began working for the city after the training standards for reserve officers.
academy was shut down, confirmed the de- California designates three levels of re-
partment has been investigating issues with serve officer, and each is regulated by the
the program. state.
Jervis Daniel was still on parole for a 2003 Each level has required training, with a
home invasion when he successfully com- minimum of 144 hours for the lowest-level
pleted Highland Park’s reserve training pro- reserve. Those reserve officers, the Level III
gram in May 2014. Daniel, the certificate reserves, perform duties that aren’t likely to
reads, “met all requirements as prescribed require them to physically arrest another
by the Highland Park Law Enforcement person, including tasks like traffic control,
Training Center” to become a reserve officer. security at parades and report writing. Level
Except Daniel was a felon. John Zieleniewski Willie Strong II reserves, who can perform general law en-
In a recent interview with the Free Press forcement but only under the immediate su-
❚ Former Inkster Police auxiliary officer ❚ Former Flint Police reserve officer
from state prison, where he is serving time pervision of a regular police officer, are re-
for a parole violation, Daniel said he spent ❚ Partner of Officer William Melendez, ❚ Since 2011, ran a fake police group that quired to complete 333 hours of training.
nearly $700 to take the training program and who went to prison for police brutality patrolled, showed up at crime scenes, Level 1 reserves are required to have more
thousands more on equipment and uni- against motorist Floyd Dent in 2015 handcuffed civilians and once pulled guns than twice that amount – the same as a reg-
forms. on teenagers who had broken into an ular cop.
❚ Admitted using racial epithets
As a felon, he was not allowed to possess a abandoned school Jeff Dunn, a senior consultant and a re-
in his text messages
gun. But he did as he walked the beat, re- gional manager for the California Commis-
❚ Convicted of impersonating a cop;
sponded to calls and assisted licensed cops. sion on Peace Officer Standards and Train-
sentenced in September to probation
Daniel said there were times when reserve ing, said higher levels of reserves “have that
officers, working on their own, handcuffed authority to make use of force decisions and
people at scenes and conducted traffic stops, get involved in situations of a serious na-
then had to wait for a licensed officer to ar- ture.”
rive. In Nevada, reserve officers serve as an im-
Records show that Daniel at some point portant crime deterrent in places like the Las
had stopped reporting to his parole agent Vegas Strip, where they are teamed up with
and in August 2014 Detroit police officers certified police officers, said Tim Bunting,
knocked on his door to arrest him. During deputy director of the Nevada Commission
that arrest, officers discovered his Glock pis- on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
tol and Highland Park police badge. Daniel He said Nevada beefed up its rules in 2002
told them he was a reserve, but the officers to regulate reserve officers at the state level.
thought the badge was stolen and that he “What was going on before then, you had
was impersonating a cop. auxiliary, you had people called reserves, you
Daniel told authorities he had paid to at- had people called part-time, none of them
tend the reserve academy and told them he had standards,” he said. “I’d give you a badge
had been to prison. He said the academy ran Robert Bates Robert Reznick and pat you on the back and give you a gun
a criminal history background check and and say, ‘Go out and do good things; don’t
❚ Tulsa County, Oklahoma, reserve ❚ Former police chief in Oakley, Mich.,
“told me that because that was some years shoot anybody.’ ”
sheriff’s deputy population less than 300
ago that it would be OK,” according to a Nevada requires that people who want to
Michigan Department of Corrections parole ❚ Said he confused his handgun for his ❚ Started controversial reserve force of be reserves pass a background check, a fit-
violation report. Taser, accidentally fatally shooting a some 150 officers, many of whom lived far ness test and complete 120 hours of training
Daniel — who found himself facing a fed- restrained man in 2015 away from his mid-Michigan town in subjects that include Constitutional law,
eral weapons charge last year — told the Free probable cause, juvenile law, arrest powers,
❚ Convicted of second-degree ❚ Collected donations totaling nearly
Press he knew he wasn’t supposed to carry a search and seizure, domestic violence, child
manslaughter $200,000 over several years from reserves
firearm but hoped that if he did a good job as abuse, ethics and firearms. Then there are
who wanted to carry a badge and gun
a reserve officer it would someday lead to annual requirements to meet after the origi-
paid employment with Highland Park. nal certification.
“Everything was going good and I got ad- The standards are important, Bunting
dicted to actually being on the force and said, because a reserve can look just like a
working,” he said. was written about in Michigan newspapers, regular cop.
According to corrections department rec- and published a letter to the editor in the Kal- “He’s still wearing a uniform representing
ords, Daniel said he thought he was getting
his life back on track. “I honestly thought I
amazoo Gazette, signing off as: “John Rat-
erink, chairman of the Michigan Council of
“You have a person that agency,” he said. “In a lot of people’s
eyes, they see a reserve, they see a peace offi-
had an opportunity to rebuild my life and
start off with a clean slate.”
Conservative Citizens.”
There’s even a video on YouTube that
carrying a gun who cer. They don’t differentiate.”
In Michigan, some local police depart-