Police Department Oversight Committee Election

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.

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.

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.

Through and through humanitarian by conviction. Pragmatist by training. Aiming for a balanced perspective.