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Body cameras are helping to stop excessive force

"Prison Uniform with Body Camera" by JobsForFelonsHub is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The city of Lansing is getting an assist from Grand Rapids in its efforts to address racial justice and equity issues.

Lansing held its third and final community input session via Zoom on Thursday to discuss race relations in the city. One panelist was Grand Rapids City Attorney Anita Hitchcock, who discussed her city’s efforts. She says they’ve been working on a plan for a couple of years, so they might be ahead of Lansing in some ways.

Like Lansing, Grand Rapids is hearing calls to defund police. The city charter requires Grand Rapids to devote 32% of its operating fund to police, and Hitchcock says it’s currently at 39%. She adds the budget is already set for this year.

“You have to have a plan," said Hitchcock. "You have to be able to say where you’re going to take the money from and where the money’s going, and so we’ve not had those types of discussions yet.”

This was the last of Lansing’s planned community meetings, but organizers say the conversation will continue. The city has an online survey related to its Racial Justice and Equity Plan.