Michigan Association of Police

Since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 45-cent-per-gallon fuel tax increase to fix Michigan’s roads failed to get support last year, she said she will now shift to smaller steps…describing that as “triage” for the roads. Based on suspected falsification of records, Colonel Joseph Gasper, director of the Michigan State Police (MSP), announced the department is investigating potential fraud committed by contract employees of Intoximeter and is moving to pull 203 breathalyzer instruments from the field. The State of Michigan has filed suit in Washtenaw County against 17 different entities as a way to cover the cost of environmental and public damages caused by toxic PFAS. Gov. Whitmer is set to deliver the annual State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature the evening of Jan. 29, 2020. The State of Michigan will spend the $17.5 million in federal grant money to distribute Narcan to high-risk areas, for medication to treat opioid addiction in emergency rooms and jails, for replacement programs, and for mobile care units. More charges are expected, some as early as this month, from the Attorney General’s office’s investigation into alleged sexual abuse by clergy at the state’s seven dioceses, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel. Beginning May 1, the public can bring cellphones into Michigan courtrooms based on a recent rule change by the Michigan Supreme Court amending a current rule that allowed chief judges at the local level to set their own cellphone policies.

For more information on these issues and other legislative news, please click here for the January 2020 Karoub Report.