Washtenaw County Sheriff Candidates on Racial & Economic Justice
ICPJ’s VOTE Caucus 2024 Questionnaire
Ken Magee
Share 3 words that describe your leadership within the justice movement:
Compassion, Integrity, and Innovation
How do you define racial and economic justice and what would it look like in your office? Racial and Economic Justice are tenants of my campaign and they will take various forms under my administration. Eliminating traffic fines that are largely punitive and disadvantage our marginalized communities is a key policy of mine. In addition, I will look to eliminate racial bias in policing and have a department that is reflective of the community it is serving.
What responsibility does the Sheriff’s Department have in the racial disparities within the criminal legal system and what role will you play in addressing those? I believe the Sheriff’s Department has a large role to play in combatting racial disparities in Washtenaw County. Our deputies are the boots on the ground, the individuals closest to the problem with the most opportunity to usher in change. I will ensure that the deputies are constantly undergoing racial sensitivity training and various other trainings so they are able to understand the nuance that exists in law enforcement interactions. A key way we can try to curb racial disparities is by decriminalizing substance abuse disorders, which historically has been an are where racial disparities are fostered. Individuals with substance abuse disorders should be treated as patients, not criminals.
What do you think it looks like for the community to hold you accountable? You will be criticized, how do you respond to criticism? Being criticized quite frequently is an opportunity to grow. Although I may disagree with some criticisms, it allows me the opportunity to repackage my messages and policies so they may be better understood. Communication is key to good leadership.
Derrick Jackson
Share 3 words that describe your leadership within the justice movement:
Committed, Collaborative, Innovative
How do you define racial and economic justice and what would it look like in your office? Equal opportunity and access regardless of your race or economic status. It looks like a county that is no longer one of the most economically segregated in America. A county where little black and brown kids who grow up poor as I did still have every opportunity to thrive. It’s a Sheriff’s Office that tackles fine and fee justice reform to end the cycle and criminalization of poverty. A Sheriff’s Office which reinvests resources from down-stream punitive measures to up-stream preventative strategies. It’s putting an end to discriminatory policing tactics that show up as over policing and under servicing communities of color. It’s a Sheriff Jackson administrative team which mirrors the diversity of our county, and pushes Washtenaw to once and for all invest in changing the soil within our neighborhoods so we reduce our over reliance on police.
What responsibility does the Sheriff’s Department have in the racial disparities within the criminal legal system and what role will you play in addressing those? No one enters the system without first interacting with law enforcement so we are a primary factor in the racial disparities we see today. Our County has neglected communities of color for too long and our lack of meaningful investment to change the soil is on full display. That does not absolve the Sheriff’s Office of the role we play in contributing to the ongoing disparities through our tactics, policies, and deployment decisions. It does mean we need both systemic neighborhood change and transformational change within the WCSO. I’ve worked tirelessly to change the very foundations of modern day policing for this reason. We’ve worked to change the values, beliefs, training, policies, and culture of the Sheriff’s Office. We invest more than $4.7 million a year for alternatives to traditional policing, and although we’ve made considerable progress, there is much to be done. As Sheriff I will implement a transparency initiative to identify where we are failing, create a public data warehouse and scorecard, invest more in the diversion/deflection infrastructure, reduce our over reliance on policing for those things that can be handled through community-based responses, and lead our County towards eliminating the mechanisms that perpetuate disparity.
What do you think it looks like for the community to hold you accountable? You will be criticized, how do you respond to criticism? Progress doesn’t come without conflict. Criticism for a leader’s actions are part of the fundamental equation that is always pushing us forward. It is but one mechanism the community has to guide their elected leaders. It’s often what lets you know you are wrong. Someone’s past behavior is the best predictor of their future actions and I have always sought out those who criticize us most to understand what I am missing and I will do the same as Sheriff.
The ultimate accountability is to vote someone out of office but there’s much that can be done between elections. We must have robust community oversight, but after-the-fact oversight means we only act after harm has been caused. We also need upstream oversight that allows us to build the training, policies, and practices that reduce the probability of harm. It looks like community members helping decide who is worthy to wear the badge, assisting with policy decisions, and leading training. It looks like a Community Advisory Council that makes sure I am always listening to community.
Alyshia Dyer
Share 3 words that describe your leadership within the justice movement:
Authentic. Transparent. Courageous.
How do you define racial and economic justice and what would it look like in your office? I advocate for ending traffic stop quotas in Washtenaw County, a practice that contributes to significant racial disparities. I support ending low-level, non-safety-related traffic stops. As Sheriff, I will also end coercive interrogation techniques and end the practice of allowing the police to lie to people during investigations. Additionally, I support policies to protect immigrant communities, including allowing undocumented individuals to obtain driver’s licenses and ensuring our Sheriff’s Office does not collaborate with ICE. I also support restorative justice and implementing a plan to reduce the jail population. I also support creating a Corporate Accountability Crimes Unit in the Sheriff’s Office to tackle corporate economic wrongdoing, including wage theft, fraud, and unfair labor practices. This unit will collaborate with the Economic Justice Unit and conduct fraud prevention workshops to protect all communities. Holding corporations accountable is crucial for public safety, especially regarding workplace harassment and labor violations.
What responsibility does the Sheriff’s Department have in the racial disparities within the criminal legal system and what role will you play in addressing those? The racial disparities in the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office are unacceptable. FBI data reveals that Black individuals are arrested for low-level, non-violent offenses at over 11 times the rate of white individuals, placing the county in the 6th percentile for racial disparities in drug arrests. Despite comprising only 12% of the population, Black people account for 66% of arrests per the Sheriff’s Office’s own Data Information Dashboard. Often, police respond to quality-of-life or mental health issues when people outside of law enforcement would be better suited. This leads to over-policing and inefficient use of resources. Unarmed community response programs, independent of law enforcement, have proven effective and provide holistic care. I will allocate funds from the Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage to support these initiatives. I also support policies preventing deputies from stopping people for minor traffic offenses that don’t pose safety risks. Additionally, I oppose deputies enforcing status offenses, absenteeism, or school administrative policies, which contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline and create adversarial relationships between children and police. My focus is on ensuring fair treatment, appropriate resource allocation, and fostering positive community interactions.
What do you think it looks like for the community to hold you accountable? You will be criticized, how do you respond to criticism? The Sheriff’s Office has caused decades of harm to our community. Accountability starts with admitting wrongdoing—we cannot have accountability without reconciliation and honesty. We must then develop actionable plans to reduce the harm caused by our legal system, co-creating policies with our community and centering the experiences of those most impacted. Transparency is also critical. The Sheriff’s Office has hidden a variety of information from the public about its practices, policies, and data. Only a small fraction of its policies are public, and essential information about the jail, such as data on solitary confinement, injuries, and the cancellation of educational classes, is concealed. The office has misled the public about its cooperation with ICE and has caused people to be deported. Financial accountability is also needed; it is unacceptable that they spent mental health millage funds on rifles. Criticism is a gift, and as Sheriff, I will ensure the Sheriff’s Office admits wrongdoing, reconciles for the harm it has caused, and is honest and transparent about its actions.