Police Department Oversight Committee Election

Bryan Karle Roby
Assistant Professor, Middle East Studies, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Bryan Roby demonstrates through his scholarship on policing and race in Israel, and through teaching students how to file and analyze FOIA requests and responses, that he is uniquely positioned to serve on this Committee. The only effective manner of creating an environment of trust between citizen and police is to ensure that each party is heard and that issues are resolved in a just and equitable manner for the complainant and the officer. For over 10 years, Roby has written and taught about the importance of transparency and accountability in police-communal relations in the US and the Middle East.

Craig Smith
Senior Associate Librarian, University Library
I’m grateful for the work that U-M Police personnel do to keep our community safe. My interactions with U-M police officers have been positive, and I have been impressed with their professionalism and compassion. On any police force, however, there will be problems, misunderstandings, and abuses. My younger son was harassed by a U-M police officer last year. Such shortcomings do not condemn the entire force, but they cause pain and undermine trust. In such cases, fair-minded oversight is important. If chosen for the committee, I would bring a strong commitment to justice, perspective taking, and fairness to the role.

Leah Litman
Assistant Professor, Michigan Law
I’m interested in remedies for police misconduct. This is one of the topics I study in my academic research. I have also served as counsel for plaintiffs seeking remedies against federal executive officials for constitutional violations.

Michael Dennis Byers
Associate Professor, English Literature, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
My origins in a family of mixed race afford a personal insight into the workings of police in a complex urban community; my decades-long friendship with a veteran officer of color offers a view from within the police service; my study of historic racial inequities has sensitized me to the need to pursue true equity. We all deserve to live in a community whose police both protect and serve.

Olga Yakusheva
Associate Professor, Nursing, School of Nursing
Through and through humanitarian by conviction. Pragmatist by training. Aiming for a balanced perspective.

Sarah Peitzmeier
Assistant Professor, Nursing, School of Nursing
I believe I will bring a balanced and informed perspective to this important position. I have conducted research on how criminalization and/or police violence have harmed marginalized populations and believe in the importance of civilian oversight, partnership, and accountability. Yet I also have family members who are police officers and have conducted dozens of hours of ride-alongs with police officers as part of ethnographic research, and so have some understanding of the daily realities of law enforcement. As a member of the police oversight committee, I would hope to be a voice for truth and justice.