Perhaps because the city has never really recovered from its 1967 riots, officials were desperate to prevent violence this time around. The trouble started, police say, when Officers Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn decided to question Green and a friend, Ralph Fletcher, who were standing outside a suspected crack house. After Budzyn asked Green for his license, he reached for the glove compartment of his car. According to Fletcher, Budzyn at that point ordered Green to open his clenched fist, allegedly to see if he was holding crack. When Green refused, police say, the beating began. By the time it ended, seven cops were on the scene and Green’s bloodied body was lying in the street. Officials reacted quickly, if somewhat intemperately, to keep the city calm–Mayor Young called the killing a murder. Wayne County prosecutor John D. O’Hair indicted four officers (three white and one black) on charges ranging from assault to manslaughter and murder. All four maintain their innocence. (O’Hair said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the others.)
Before Greens death, Detroiters were on reasonably good terms with their police. The LAPD had a reputation for excessive force long before the King beating. Blacks and other minorities were conspicuously absent both from the ranks and the brass. But where Detroit had once considered its police an occupying army, cops and citizens have often found themselves on the same team during Young’s five terms. There are mini-stations throughout the city to foster communication. Fully 55 percent of the force is black.
While Detroit may not have the same problems as Los Angeles, it has plenty of its own. The department has high alcoholism and divorce rates, and pervasive psychological problems connected with the stress of policing a city mired in poverty, drugs and crime; it doesn’t have the counseling programs many other cities offer their cops. “There are many, many potential time bombs in that department,” says Christine Panyard, a psychology professor at the University of Detroit-Mercy who has counseled officers for 14 years. According to a study by City Councilman Mel Ravitz, in the past five years there were 821 suits involving 1,275 officers, on charges including excessive force and wrongful death. He attributed the problem to the absence of a risk-management program for cops.
If the mayor deserves credit for improving and integrating Detroit’s police department, he’s also come in for some of the blame for its travails. Critics say the city has one of the most politicized forces in the country. A rash of corruption scandals has tarnished the department’s reputation. Young “has allowed nepotism, cronyism and favoritism in the Detroit Police Department from the chief on down,” says one cop on the beat. An aide to Young says that he will not comment, but adds: “Programs initiated by the Detroit Police Department are being copied across the country. You don’t accomplish that through political patronage.” Though Young remains popular, outrageous displays of venality by the department may put good will to the test. A city council audit coming out this week claims that the Detroit Police Department paid $850,000 to two medical drug-testing facilities. According to an official who’s reviewed the audit, there was no competitive bidding-though the cost would have been half at other labs.
Only six months ago the city saw its former police chief, William Hart, found guilty of embezzling $2.6 million in public funds. Three mistresses testified about Hart’s lavish gifts; other witnesses told about the time $20,000 dropped from Hart’s kitchen ceiling during a renovation. In August, in another case, Young’s niece testified that Gilbert Hill, then a police inspector, passed on top-secret information about federal narcotics investigations (Hill denies the allegation).
Now the death of Malice Green has further demoralized Detroit officers. Many feel torn between the standards of their profession and the demands of camaraderie. The next key moment is scheduled for Dec. 14, when a judge will decide whether there’s enough evidence to bring the four officers to trial. Their lawyers say they will seek a change of venue on account of pretrial publicity. Again, Los Angeles comes eerily to mind. The Rodney King trial was relocated to a white suburb-and the city blew up. Detroit officials are unlikely to overlook such lessons as they move gingerly ahead with the Green case.
