10 months after the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya by a former Grand Rapids Police Officer, the Department this week updated its three-year-strategic plan.
The Grand Rapids Police Department said it “is an update, and not a new plan,” However, Police Chief Eric Winstrom told city officials Tuesday, that he wants the GRPD to be the gold standard in policing…to get there, the department “needs to keep building trust, reduce crime, bring justice to victims and recruit and retain great employees.”
After updating the strategic plan over the summer to include de-escalation training for police officers in the wake of the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya, the GRPD's updated plan now includes increasing partnerships with community groups and working closely with the city’s Office of Public Accountability.
To earn back public trust, the GRPD says it is committed to maintaining accurate and current statistics on its accountability dashboard which tracks police activity and arrests.
Prior to the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya by former GRPO Christopher Schurr, the department's reputation in the community had already been tarnished, starting with an independent traffic study that determined that African-American motorists are twice as likely to be pulled over than white drivers, following a number of questionable arrests of black minors at gunpoint.
Christopher Schurr meanwhile has been charged with 2nd Degree Murder and is awaiting trial. He legal team is appealing the court's decision.
