Open Letter to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard from Amrit Kohli

Sheriff’s office has been accused of causing, statistics around officer involved shootings, and I would strongly encourage you to hire an outside agency to report on how well Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies are protecting the lives of the suspects and inmates they serve.

I would encourage you to forgive the Oakland County jail debt.  You should stop charging inmates for housing costs because Jail is not housing.  You are further burdening mostly Black and Brown people with this silly “Hotel Tax” that you should be able to do away with.  The County already funds the jail.  Stop fleecing the inmates with these severely impactful policies that are regressive, oppressive, and frankly, racist.

I would encourage you to hire more Mental Health First Responders to accompany officers to mental health emergencies.  Police Officers are not trained, not equipped, and not capable of addressing mental health emergencies without dedicated MH First Responders.  Many lives can be saved if you deploy MH First Responders with your deputies for these types of scenarios.

Finally, a word about Harm Reduction.  You should stop arresting people for substance use and misuse.  It is not a criminal issue.  It is a health care issue.  You should set up Harm Reduction centers around the county where residents can come and safely get their substances tested.  By doing just this much, you will dramatically reduce overdose deaths in Oakland County.  These are proven techniques and programs that have helped countless substance users manage their use of substances.  Harm Reduction centers have been used in states like Massachusetts, where they have had a dramatic impact on the overdose deaths occurring there.

Please work with the folks at Oakland County Health to further decriminalize substance use, set up Harm Reduction Centers around the county, and provide free substance testing at these facilities.  Please stop arresting people and incarcerating them for substance use and misuse issues.  Jail is not where people who use substances are going to get the help they need.  Please try to get residents the help they need to restore themselves after chronic substance use becomes substance misuse and simply substance use.  You do not have to incarcerate Black and Brown people in disproportionate numbers to white people at OCJ.  There are more white people in Oakland County than there are Black and Brown people.  So, tell me why there are so many more Black and Brown inmates at OCJ than there are white inmates.  You should publish these statistics and at least attempt to hold yourself accountable for the systemic racism that has grown into our institutions.

I ran an honest campaign.  You mischaracterized the position of Oakland County Sheriff as a position that requires prior law enforcement experience.  It does not.  And there is a reason for that.  It is my belief that only civilians should run for that office.  Officers of the law must come under the purview of the citizens they serve.  Officers in Oakland County need more accountability and need to take more responsibility for their mistakes, particularly when it results in a wrongful death.

I hope you will consider opening up a dialogue with me on these issues.  I may not have any law enforcement experience, but I am a very accomplished person.  I can handle running the Sheriff’s office, with or without law enforcement experience.  I hope you will take my advice seriously and that you will give it due consideration without dismissing it.

I ran a campaign of change.  You have been the Sheriff since 1999.  How much change can you really bring?  Perhaps it’s time to consider term limits, Mr. Bouchard.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, 

Amrit Kohli

CC: Oakland County Commissioners

Oakland County Health Department

Ani DiFranco

Vice-President Kamala Harris

Ceasefire Community

Black Lives Matter - Detroit

Carroll Fife

Cat Brooks

Dan Siegel

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