(WXYZ) — Here at 7 News Detroit, we want to make sure you start your day off on the right foot, informed about weather, traffic, the latest news and more. That's why we have the 7 Morning Digest, where we'll get you out the door informed and ready to go.
What's the weather for today?
The chance for a spotty shower continues this morning with more rain chances hanging around into the weekend. However, Father's Day looks dry and warmer.
Friday: Partly to mostly cloudy with a slight shower chance. The chance for rain increases this evening, mainly near and south of I-94. Highs will be in the low to mid 70s. Winds: E 10 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, chance for more showers. Temps in the upper 50s to near 60°. Winds: E 5-10 mph.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or storm north of Detroit and a better chance around the city and south. Highs will be in the low to mid 70s. Winds: E 5-10 mph.
Any traffic issues?
So far, no major issues on the roads this morning. Be sure to check our live traffic map here.
The top stories to know about
Residents 'irate' over proposed gravel mine in Springfield Township
In rural Springfield Township, there's an uproar concerning a portion of farmland that could be converted to a gravel mine if a Dearborn-based company has its way
The Levy company has owned the land for decades. It's seeking a special land use permit from the township. If granted, the company said it plans to convert more than half of the land into a mining operation.
"I would love to stop the project and make 'em go elsewhere," Amanda Gruzin told 7 News Detroit.
She said that type of development is counterproductive to the peace she chose in buying her home and the land around it. Her family lives about a quarter mile from the site.
Residents Stephanie Nahas and Chris Todd also mentioned property values as a concern.
7 News Detroit spoke with Ruben Maxbauer. He's the director of the Levy Company.
"When it comes to individual concerns about air or water or sound or vibration, there are state regulations, there are federal regulations, there are local regulations. We follow every single one of those regulations. It's critical to us that the community feels comfortable with what we're doing," he said.
Maxbauer said residents are welcome to take a tour and gain a better understanding of the proposed mining operation.
He said the company surveyed the land for sand and gravel in the 1970s, then bought it in the 1980s, and that's it's always been the plan to mine a portion of the land long-term.
Taylor police launch drone program to improve officer safety and response times
The Taylor Police Department has become one of the first in Michigan to deploy autonomous rooftop drones, allowing officers to respond faster and more safely to emergency calls.
The new technology enables drones to arrive at scenes before officers, providing crucial information about what's happening on the ground.
"It's direct-line flight. They travel 45 mph," Blair said.
Lt. Jeff Adamisin, who is in charge of all the technology for the department, explained how the system works.
"These will be autonomous, not totally autonomous. We'll be launching them with human control from inside our offices and dispatch center and basically drop a pin on a map, and that drone will then fly to that location," Adamisin said.
He says the drones' speed gives officers a significant advantage in emergency situations.
"Anywhere in the city, that drone is going to be able to get there within a minute, minute and a half," Adamisin said.
The department uses specialized software to check weather conditions and air traffic before deployment. After entering an address, the drone can launch within seconds to respond to various situations including a vehicle stopped on the road, a water main break or more serious incidents.
"Maybe potentially a homocide scene, someone's that's barricaded inside, holding someone hostage, a very large disturbance, large fight," Blair said.
‘Good officers want this.’ Bills aim to stop problem Michigan cops from job hopping
Lawmakers in Lansing hope that a bipartisan push to improve policing practices will help clamp down on problem officers job hopping across Michigan.
The legislation follows nearly two-years of reporting by 7 News Detroit, detailing how officers throughout Michigan were able to jump from department to department, leaving scandal, lawsuits or criminal charges behind.
A package of bills shepherded by Democrats, but with the support of three Republicans, was introduced in the state senate last month, tackling a whole host of issues in policing.
The eleven-bill package aims to limit no-knock warrants, require departments to have duty to intervene policies and more.
Similar legislation introduced back in November died during lame duck in December.
“The good officers want this so that they can take the bad officers out of their ranks,” said Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), a co-sponsor of several bills.
In Michigan, the agency that helps police the police is the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES).
Its small investigative staff has an enormous responsibility: to ensure that every officer who leaves a department to join another meets the standards to be an officer.
But as 7 News Detroit has shown, officers with troubling histories have been hired by new departments without state watchdogs noticing.
Examples include officers deemed to be untruthful, a Detroit officer seen punching a citizen in the face, a Highland Park officer found to have improperly tased a homeless man, an Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy caught buying narcotics on duty and using racist language and officers accused of harassment by multiple women, engaging in sexual acts or sexting with women they’d pulled over.
“You’ve detailed these reports year after year after year,” said Sen. Moss. “This is not a one-off problem in our communities.”
It wasn’t supposed to work this way.
When an officer leaves a police department—even if it’s just to take another job— their department is supposed to report to MCOLES exactly why they left. At the same time, any department looking to hire them needs to conduct a thorough background check of the officer on their own
But too often, that doesn't happen. In numerous cases, 7 News Detroit found that police chiefs hired officers without even knowing why they left their last police department.
“We know that when there are bad cops hired at agency after agency,” said Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), “because they literally did not know what happened at the previous agency with this misconduct that that hurts the entire profession.”
In other cases, departments claimed that an officer left in good standing when they were actually under investigation or facing internal charges.
Sometimes, it was state investigators who dropped the ball, failing to flag problem cops before another agency could hire them.
If signed by the governor, the legislation would allow MCOLES to set standards for department background checks.
The bills would also require departments to fully disclose why an officer left and whether they were ever under investigation during their final year of employment.
The bills would also give the state greater authority to revoke a law enforcement license and would provide MCOLES a 90-day window to revoke an officer’s license if it was activated in error.
Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the senate, believe they have the votes to advance at least some of the bills. But if the legislation makes its way into the House—where Republicans are in the majority—the bills are likely to face serious headwinds.
Back in April, while calling for additional funding for police statewide, Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) said he would not be supportive of police reform bills like the ones that died in lame duck.
“Too many of these radical left Democrats, all they want to do is handcuff police and make it harder to be a police officer,” Hall said.
