Wednesday, March 29, 2023
KDPS say an anonymous survey for drivers and service callers will help improve their work. Also: Another round of funding – this time $1M+ from the state – for a Northside housing by a former WMU football player-turned-developer. And Crossroads Mall wants more road repair support from Metro buses.
KDPS launches new feedback tool, says will be anonymous
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says it will be giving drivers and people making service calls the option to provide feedback within hours of their interaction with the department.
Starting April 1, KDPS said officers will give a card with a QR Code that links to a short survey to drivers following a traffic stop. A link to that survey will be sent by text message in the hours following a service call.
The survey is being conducted as a pilot project under a contract with Scottsdale-based Axon, a company that provides technology services to police departments around the world. The survey itself is using Axon’s My90 tool.
The KDPS statement did not include the cost of the program, or explain exactly how the department will utilize the anonymized information on a day-to-day basis and for making operational changes.
“We never see anything beyond the basic data,” KDPS Public Information Officer Jay Shatara said when asked about user anonymity. The My90 program itself will be conducting the survey, Shatara said. “Axon collects the survey information and only asks surface level demographic type questions. No one has to provide a name in the survey. Axon will then send us the basic analytics and results.”
More News You Need To Know
Ex-Bronco running back gets $1M in state funds for housing project
The Michigan Strategic Fund Board has authorized more than $1.2 million in grants and tax breaks to a housing and child care center project in Kalamazoo’s Northside neighborhood being developed by former WMU Bronco football player Jamauri Bogan. The county is in need of thousands of housing units, primarily for low and middle income residents. This project will include a 13-unit residential building, more than half of which will be dedicated to tenants earning between 60% and 120% of area median income. A second building next door will house childcare services and common spaces. It is expected to have a $4.6 million price tag, toward which Bogan has contributed $130,000 and raised $535,000 in local housing grants.
Bogan broke ground on the project at 315 E. Frank St. called Zone 32, which references his jersey number, in February. Bogan played for WMU from 2015 to 2018, including the 2016 Cotton Bowl team, and has since worked as a property developer. This is the first project under his own company’s banner, Bogan Developments LLC. [MLive]
Crossroads Mall ups its demand for Metro bus cash
The Crossroads Mall is asking Kalamazoo County’s transportation system Metro for a $75,000 payment into a $700,000 project to repair the property’s roads. It’s unclear if this is instead of or in addition to a demand last year for $50,000 a year to maintain bus stops at the mall. In both cases, mall general manager Marni Sawicki said the bus stops may have to be moved off property if an agreement isn’t reached to help offset wear and tear of the roads caused by buses. Metro representatives have said they wouldn’t pay, and that the buses are bringing business to the mall. Both say they are working toward an agreement. [WWMT]
New gun safety laws could be politicized in most Michigan counties
As the state legislature prepares new gun regulations aimed at reducing the chance of mass shootings and other unlawful uses of firearms, more than half of the 83 county commissions in the state have already passed resolutions against or otherwise declared their opposition to gun rights restrictions. The commissions generally oppose any measures they deem to be in violation of their interpretation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. While county commissions cannot supersede state laws, they can influence how the county’s sheriffs and prosecutors – which are also partisan, elected offices – choose to enforce the laws.
Legal approaches to restricting some gun access has accelerated over the past months after the Democratic Party took over the state legislature and as mass shootings occurred both in the state and around the country. Individual acts of gun violence and homicides have hit record levels over the past few years in Kalamazoo County, where commissioners have dedicated $1 million toward a public health crisis of gun violence.
The legislation being proposed would add regulation of and tax breaks for gun storage measures, increase background check requirements prior to purchasing guns, and create a “red flag” law for legal options to remove guns from people deemed a risk to themselves or others at the time. [Bridge Michigan]
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