Court Ruling Criticized for Effectively Handcuffing Reserve Officers

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Say Kid Rock or former Detroit Lion Jason Fox or any of about 100 other reserve police officers in the tiny Village of Oakley tries to arrest you and you put up a fuss and resist:

You’re within your rights because resisting arrest by a reserve officer it isn’t a crime — at least for now, according to a recent Michigan Court of Appeals ruling.

The court’s 2-1 ruling upholds two lower court rulings in a Livingston County case in which Ryan Scott Feeley was accused of failing to obey a Brighton reserve officer investigating a bar fight with a full-time officer, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The court found that because reserve officers aren’t specifically mentioned in laws outlining penalties for resisting arrest, they are not covered by it.

Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt plans to appeal the ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court — which would be good news for Robert Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.

If the ruling isn’t reversed on appeal, Stevenson said his group will work with the Legislature to amend the law.

“This will be an issue across the state,” he said. “For some parts of the state, reserve police officers are instrumental in protecting the public and it’s not just small cities.”

Detroit and Livonia, for example, use reserve officers to bolster their police presence, especially when budgets are shrinking. Macomb County has about 270 reserve officers, and Oakland County has about 100.

The court’s ruling effectively renders them ineffective, Stevenson said.

“They can’t make an arrest,” he said. “If someone ignores them, they can’t charge them with resisting. It’s going to limit their effectiveness, definitely.”

One of the most infamous uses of reserve officers is in the tiny village of Oakley, where, with reserve officers included, there are about three police officers per 100 residents.

After the police chief there was compelled in a Freedom of Information Act request to release the names of the reserve officers, citizens learned they were being protected by a notable list of luminaries in an alleged pay-for-play scheme that gives them special law enforcement status in exchange for cash and equipment donations.

Besides Kid Rock, James Robert Ritchie in his private life, and Fox, who now plays for the Miami Dolphins, the list included a casino developer, a former Birmingham City Council candidate and several prominent Metro Detroit business leaders.

Related

• Kid Rock’s a Cop. No, Really.
• Judge to Decide Skirmish with ‘Rogue’ Police Officers