Lansing — The state House Oversight Committee will ask Michigan State Police leaders to testify on recent personnel controversies involving department leadership, a series of events lawmakers argue have led to plummeting morale among troopers across the state. State Rep. Mike Mueller, a Linden Republican who leads the appropriations subcommittee steering the state police budget, spoke for nearly an hour and a half Tuesday regarding irregular promotions, overspending and litigation involving the department’s top brass. While some documentation of those events has been provided to Mueller, a former law enforcement officer, he said many of the documents only trickled in after the oversight panel posted notice of a meeting to discuss the issues. And, in many cases, a majority of the information in the document was redacted. Mueller asked the oversight committee to draft a letter requesting further unredacted documentation, as well as testimony from department director Col. James F. Grady II and Lt. Col. Aimee Brimacombe. If the department refuses, he asked the oversight committee to issue a subpoena to compel the agency. “I’m here for the morale, integrity, and recruitment of the state police,” Mueller said after the hearing. “In order to do my job effectively, I need to be able to see the whole picture.” At one point during the hearing, Mueller called on Grady and Brimacombe to retire. "The morale of your department is sinking and it’s time to right the ship," Mueller said. The state police, in a statement, said Grady and the leadership team were proud of the department's work and "provides unwavering support" for state troopers. "The harsh reality is that law enforcement agencies across the nation have experienced steady declines in morale and retention," the statement said. Several lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, acknowledged during Tuesday's House Oversight Committee meeting that it was clear there were problems among department leaders and urged more transparency on the topic from the law enforcement agency. "It’s pretty evident that there is an issue here, in terms of the promotions and things like that," said state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, while asking for further records on troopers involved in promotion controversies. "My only ask is that we don’t look for records just to confirm our own biases, that we also make sure we can dismiss any other causes." Mueller recounted several different issues that had cropped up within MSP leadership in recent years, focusing largely on irregular promotions and demotions within the leadership team. Brimacombe, an attorney, was promoted from first lieutenant to chief deputy director — advancing several ranks simultaneously — shortly after being disciplined for using a department vehicle for personal use, Mueller said. State police department policy at the time required a two-year delay between when an individual is disciplined and any sort of promotion. Brimacombe also received a $9,100 performance bonus within four months of being promoted, even though department policy requires someone to have served in a given position for a year before receiving a performance bonus, Mueller said. In 2023, the entire command staff at the Michigan State Police Flint Post was placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing internal investigation and litigation over staff promotions after troopers alleged the commander fed test questions to those she wanted to advance. When questioned on the issue, Grady hesitated regarding his communication on the matter with the staff commander, Mueller said. In 2023, the Shiawassee County prosecutor charged two troopers with misconduct in office and misdemeanor assault and battery after they arrested a man on a bicycle they believed to be carrying drugs. The man, Jacob Long, was the brother of Tiffany Homola. Homola was an acquaintance of Brimacombe and contacted Brimacombe about the issue via Facebook Messenger. A Shiawassee County judge dismissed the charges against the troopers, at which point Long’s family filed a civil case. The case was resolved relatively quickly for $999,999, Mueller noted, a dollar below the million-dollar threshold that would have required Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office’s to sign off on the settlement payment. Mueller said he had lingering questions about Brimacombe's promotion and her involvement in the Shiawassee County case, ones that Grady and Brimacombe could best answer in front of a House committee. "I've met with the colonel several times. I told him that he's the captain of this ship and that his picks directly affect the morale of the department," Mueller said. "His response was the morale of the department does not only fall on him but the troopers and that social media and Facebook and things like that had contributed to the decline of the state police morale." Mueller also questioned a last-minute attempt to change the location of a department conference that allegedly increased costs by $40,000. Additionally, he sought information about the department's shift of $810,000 to the executive side, presumably to support new positions within the leadership team. [email protected] Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here. This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State Police leaders scrutinized by lawmakers for recent controversies, low morale

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A Michigan State Police trooper was injured and one person died in a shooting early Monday on Detroit's west side, authorities said. Around 4:40 a.m near the 20000 block of Murray Hill, troopers in the MSP Auto Theft team were involved in a shooting with an individual, the agency's Second District reported on X. The trooper was hit and transported to a local hospital. The suspect was killed in the exchange of gunfire, according to MSP. The investigation is ongoing. State police did not release further details Monday morning. [email protected] This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan State Police trooper hurt, 1 dead in Detroit shooting

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