Shelby Township, MI Police Chief Robert J. Shelide was placed on a paid leave of absence after making racist remarks on social media about protestors who have participated in marches and rallies over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Most recently, Chief Shelide has been suspended without pay for 30 days and will return to his position on July 17 following cultural awareness training. While it is good to see swift action, a 30 day suspension and cultural awareness training is not enough. 

* Update: The situation regarding Chief Shelide in Shelby Township continues to be poorly handled. There has been zero accountability for Shelby Township residents who continue to protest and advocate for the removal of Chief Shelide. In addition, Shelby Township Trustee John Vermeulen recently made racist remarks on social media. Many Shelby Township residents are now organizing to hold their elected officials accountable in efforts to cultivate anti-racist government institutions. It is important to note that all five board members, including Trustee Vermeulen, who voted to suspend rather than fire Chief Shelide are up for re-election this year in Shelby Township. *

Under pseudonyms known to be used by Chief Shelide, he said, “Trump threatening to deploy the military. I have a better idea. Unleash real cops and let them take care of the barbarians. I promise it will be over in 24 hours. Cops are crippled by politicians and the media.”

To call Americans who are standing up for Black lives “barbarians” is to perpetuate centuries of racist degradation. In another post made under a different pseudonym, Chief Shelide called protesters “Wild savages” and said “I wish to God I would have been there. Body bags for these vicious subhumans.”

Again, calling his fellow Americans “wild savages” and “subhuman” is not only virulently racist, but it also puts people severely at risk when, in fact, his job is to protect our citizens. As a leader within the police force, Chief Shelide’s words do more than send a personal message--they also imply to his officers that they should treat Black community members as “barbarians,” “savages,” and “subhuman.” This is obviously unacceptable. 

Not only is Shelide a police chief, he is a past-president of the Southeast Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, and he was once named “Administrator of the Year” by the Police Officers Association of Michigan. 

Anti-Black statements that Chief Shelide made in social media are dangerous and contribute to unbalanced and distorted portrayals of Black people. Such statements lead to the development and perpetuation of racist biases against Black people and state sanctioned violence upon Black, Indigenous, and communities of Color. 

The statements made by Chief Shelide create an unsafe community for Black people because the racist beliefs held by law enforcement are made public through entitled communication on social media. When the leader of the police department in Shelby Township is racist, he creates and maintains an anti-Black culture where accountability and justice cannot exist.

We demand the following to address Chief Shelide’s racist and anti-Black statements: 

1. Chief Robert Shelide must resign for making racist remarks. Following his resignation, he must become ineligible to hold any position in law enforcement in Shelby Township at any point in the future.
2. Shelby Township Police Department be held accountable for their internal culture by developing and implementing anti-racist training and hiring practices, as well as governing regulations. Community input must be incorporated into how these changes are designed and implemented.
3. Implement a zero-tolerance policy for police officers who make racist statements and make anti-Black decisions in regards to arresting Black people and Black Lives Matter protesters. This policy must apply to remarks officers of any rank make on or off-duty, as well as in any written or verbal form.
4. All police wear and use body cameras, which must be turned on at the very start of their shift and not turned off until the end, except for scheduled breaks.
5. Police officers cannot discourage, deny, or interfere with a person’s right to record their interactions with the police.
6. Increase transparency between the police and the public, including that all body cam footage can be released to the public under open-records law and the footage must not be highly redacted. All reports of officer misconduct, which includes racist statements and actions, must be public record without heavy redactions as well.
7. In collaboration with the Shelby Township Council, the Shelby Township Police Department must undergo an external audit in order to provide budget and funding transparency. This external audit should be transparent for Shelby Township residents. In addition, the audit would be informative for which aspects of the Shelby Township Police Department should undergo defunding in order to invest in other aspects of community well-being, health, and care. Shelby Township residents should be key participants in this defunding and investment process.

This petition is authored by Writing to Fight for Black Lives (WFBL), which is a grassroots collective of non-Black people of Color and White people who are committed to anti-racism and the eradication of anti-Blackness across various societal structures. This group's purpose is to find, collect, respond to (through writing and other means), and disrupt the anti-Blackness rampant across policing, schooling, and other social structures. WFBL will be submitting this petition to persons in leadership positions within: Shelby Township Police Department, Shelby Township Board of Trustees, Shelby Township Human Resources, Shelby Township Director, Michigan Associations of Chiefs of Police, Police Officers Association of Michigan (MCOLES), County Sheriff, Public Rep for MI Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, Chair of MI Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, Judge - 41A District Court Shelby Township, and Utica Community Schools Director of School and Community Relations. 

In addition to signing and sharing this petition, WFBL encourages the following action steps:

• Attend one of the Shelby Township commission and/or board meetings: https://www.shelbytwp.org/calendar.jsp 
• Email and call the following elected officials and persons of leadership within Shelby Township with the script shared below:
  • Mark Coil, Deputy Chief: 586-731-2121 ext 786; mcoil@shelbytwp.org 
  • Terrence McDonnell, President of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police: 231-536-2273; tmcdonnell@eastjordancity.org 
  • Lisa Suida, Shelby Township HR: 586-726-7241; HR@shelbytwp.org 
  • Dear X, Shelby Township MI Police Department Chief Robert Shelide has been suspended without pay after making racist remarks on social media about protestors. While it is good to see swift action, a 30 day suspension and cultural awareness training is not enough. When the leader of the police department in Shelby Township is racist, he creates and maintains an anti-Black culture where accountability and justice cannot exist. I demand that Chief Shelide resign for making racist remarks. Following his resignation, he must become ineligible to hold any position in law enforcement in Shelby Township at any point in the future. Sincerely, X  

WFBL will be following up on the Shelby Township police department in order to advocate for the demands outlined in this petition. We stand with Shelby Township residents who continue to protest and demand for the removal of Chief Robert Shelide. Please return to this petition for any updated information or resources for action steps. 

Black Lives Matter. In solidarity,

Writing to Fight for Black Lives 

[Petition photo from: Clarence Tabb Jr., The Detroit News]