Police Department’s Use-of-Force Policies

After George Floyd was killed by police, Amy Hjerstedt, on behalf of the Eastern Upper Peninsula League of Women Voters, requested a copy of the local police department’s use-of-force policy to see if improvements could be made. The City of Sault Ste. Marie refused to disclose the full policy, redacting major portions. Ms. Hjerstedt filed suit under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get an unredacted copy. Even though many police departments post their use-of-force policies online, the trial court agreed with the city’s claim that the reacted sections could be withheld. In August 2022 the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Ms. Hjerstedt’s appeal to the Court of Appeals, arguing that public access to use-of-force policies is critical to robust debate about policing, and that FOIA was intended to make precisely this type of information available. In February 2023 the Court of Appeals agreed, holding in a published decision that the City’s claimed exemptions did not apply, and that it must produce the unredacted use-of-force policy. The City has sought leave to appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court. (Hjerstedt v. City of Sault Ste. Marie; ACLU Attorneys Miriam Aukerman, Mark P. Fancher, and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorneys Stephen van Stempvoort, Alise Hildreth, and Joslin Monahan of Miller Johnson.)