Police Department’s Use-of-Force Policies

After George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota, Amy Hjerstedt, on behalf of the Eastern Upper Peninsula League of Women Voters, requested a copy of the local police department’s use-of-force policy to see if improvements could be made at the local level. The City of Sault Ste. Marie refused to disclose the full policy, redacting major portions. Ms. Hjerstedt filed suit under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get an unredacted copy. Even though many police departments post their use-of-force policies online, the trial court agreed with the city’s argument that the reacted sections could be withheld. Ms. Hjerstedt appealed, and in August 2022 the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Michigan Court of Appeals, arguing that public access to use-of-force policies is critical to robust debate about policing, and that FOIA was intended to make precisely this type of information available. In February 2023 the Court of Appeals agreed, holding in a published decision that the city’s claimed exemptions did not apply, and that it must produce the unredacted use-of-force policy. The city sought leave to appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court, which in December 2023, in lieu of granting leave, reversed and remanded to the Court of Appeals with respect to one issue: whether use of force policies fall under the “staff manual” exemption of FOIA. In April 2024 we filed an additional friend-of-the-court brief arguing that simply including a document in a staff manual cannot be the basis for an exemption, and that in any event the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs any interest the city has in not disclosing its use-of-force policy. In August 2024 the Court of Appeals issued another published opinion agreeing with our argument, reaffirming its previous decision, and ordering the police department to publicly disclose its use-of-force policy. (Hjerstedt v. City of Sault Ste. Marie; ACLU Attorneys Miriam Aukerman, Mark P. Fancher, and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorneys Stephen van Stempvoort, Alise Hildreth, and Joslin Monahan of Miller Johnson.)