JCBA holds annual meeting

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Photos by Frank Weir

By Frank Weir
Legal News

The Jackson County Bar Association held its annual meeting at the Clarklake Pointe Bar and Grill June 4.

The new Bar officers are: Katie Branigan, president; Jenny Stone, first vice president; Erica Zimny, second vice president; Jake Dickerson, treasurer; and Angela Wetherby, secretary.

Jackson resident Michael Darling, a law student at the University of Michigan, received the bar's annual scholarship award.

Michigan State Police Jackson Post commander Lt. Kyle Bowman gave the keynote address.

"I began my training in Montcalm County after growing up in Detroit," he said. "I was still in the training phase when we responded to a domestic assault call. Dispatch gave me directions to drive two blocks and turn right at the green elevator.

"I kept looking for a building tall enough to have an elevator and never found one. There weren't many with even a second floor. My training officer helped me later to sort out how I got lost. He pointed to a round circular structure that looked like a rocket ship saying, 'Around here, we call that a grain elevator.' In my innocence, I asked him if anyone had gotten confused about that before. 'You're the first' he told me."

Bowman added it's essential that troopers understand the true identity of the community they serve in, knowing what a green elevator is, in other words. "It's a full time job to develop relationships with a community. And it's vital that law enforcement commit to transparency."

He gave as an example a recent police shooting in Boston by law enforcement of an individual attacking someone with a knife.

"After the incident, a brother of the attacker, who lived in California, went on social media and claimed that his relative was shot three times at a bus station while on the phone with their father," Bowman related. "Losing a family member is a devastating loss and an emotional response is only natural. But that response was the only information out there. Boston authorities immediately provided video to community leaders and they were able to deny what the brother had put out there.

"Kudos to Boston law enforcement for being transparent so quickly. We are a public entity, responsible to the people we serve. We work hard and it requires constant work to maintain a relationship with our communities."

Bowman noted it is critically important to develop trust between law enforcement and their communities before a crisis develops and to remember that the overall mission of law enforcement is to serve and protect the people, not to control them. When the mission becomes one solely of control, the stage is set for civil unrest, Bowman said.

Bowman always wanted to be involved in law enforcement.

"I wanted to be needed, to help others," he said. "I felt I had something of value to bring to others and I always had that drive. I was always the kid others turned to."

In addition, a childhood experience cemented Bowman's interest in service-oriented law enforcement.

"When I was in eighth grade, my brother and I got off our school bus and something didn't feel right. One of the doors to our house had been kicked in. We had been robbed including some of my things in my room that I had spent my money on as a kid. I felt I had been violated. A total stranger had gone through my things.

"It was an emotional and hopeless feeling at the time and 30 days later our home was broken into again. When the police came, they said they weren't surprised, the thieves realized home insurance had kicked in and they came back for the same items. I was floored. I thought, you as a police officer, knew we'd be robbed again and you didn't even tell us so we could be prepared. I was angry. I idolized the police. I felt a need to prevent others from feeling like that. It became my calling."

In spite of the challenges and current climate of animosity toward police, "there is no greater time to be a law enforcement leader," Bowman said.

"My experiences as a child and adult, have given me a perspective that many law enforcement don't have. I still want to make a difference and I want to contribute. Here at our Jackson post, we have some of the finest people. Many have seen tragedy through their own lives. In my short time here, I have seen great things and changes to allow us to better serve this community."

Published: Mon, Jun 15, 2015

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