BOPC Watch: Commissioners ask for a missing persons report from the police department

After Rella Capre Landfair reported her 25-year-old son, Michael Doss II, missing in Detroit about a month ago, she said she had to organize a search party herself.

“If Michael was the chief of police’s son, would they have looked for my son? Why did I have to find my baby?”

Landfair spoke during public comment at Thursday’s Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting, lamenting the Detroit Police Department’s approach to finding missing persons. So far this year, 86 people who’ve been reported missing haven’t been found , according to department data from March 15. Now, the board is requesting a report from the department about how it handles missing persons cases.

Fox 2 reported that Doss’ body was found in a garage in Southwest Detroit about a block from his home on Feb. 24. He had been missing for days.

Police Chief James White, sitting feet away from Landfair as she spoke, offered his condolences and added that he had case details he didn’t want to reveal in public. He offered to sit down with Landfair to explain what the department knows.

Doss’ case is just one of the missing persons cases in Detroit that have made headlines this year. Police are still looking for 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris after she went missing on Jan. 9. Ronald Scott , 62, who has memory loss and needs medication, was reported missing in early February. And Sherri Anderson , 62, who suffers from dementia, was reported missing later that month.

“I think that there should be a greater effort in the police department and throughout the whole city of Detroit to make sure that missing people are really looked for and searched for,” former Police Commissioner William Davis said during public comment.

In response to comments about how the police handle missing persons and questions about the size of the unit responsible, Commissioner Linda Bernard asked for a report from the department.

“We will be happy to get you a lengthy report,” Deputy Chief Kari Sloan said. “Missing Persons Unit is a smaller unit. I believe there’s five or six members that are assigned there, along with a sergeant and a lieutenant.”

The unit focuses on “serious missing cases,” Sloan said, like if a senior or a person with a disability is missing. Detective units at each precinct also investigate missing persons cases.

Sloan said the department is working to educate the community on how it handles missing persons and runaway reports. She also mentioned the department’s Facebook page Detroit Police Department’s Missing , which provides information on ongoing cases and statistics on missing and recovered individuals.

Board makes hiring progress

The board’s Office of the Chief Investigator may soon have a little more help to get through its backlog of citizen complaints against police officers. On Thursday, commissioners voted to hire Stephanie Brown and Kyisha Jones as investigators, as long as they pass their background checks.

“I have mixed emotions because obviously there is so much that needs to be done,” said Board Chair QuanTez Pressley. “I wish we could move quickly, but I am happy with the gradual process that we now have potentially two more investigators now than we would have had before.”

The board recently created a “special personnel and training committee” to expedite filling the positions. That committee interviewed five applicants and decided on the two candidates.

Chief Investigator Jerome Warfield said, “I’m happy for the two, but we need our full staff.”

Six additional investigator positions need to be filled. The board voted to repost the job listing.

Detroit Documenters Gina McPherson and Pamela Taylor contributed to this story.

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