Private security at RenCen to give up arrest powers following abuse, racism allegations
The private security police force tasked with patrolling Detroit's iconic Renaissance Center is expected to give up its state license to make misdemeanor arrests by March 12, the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards confirmed Tuesday.
It's the latest action taken after the Free Press first reported in November that white officers within the force, Renaissance Center Management Co., were accused of harassing and abusing Black visitors at the RenCen for over a decade.
RCMC has a state license to operate as a private security police agency through MCOLES under Public Act 330, giving its officers the legal authority to make misdemeanor arrests. The commission confirmed that RCMC had given notice that it will be "voluntarily relinquishing" its license.
And that the security firm has "renewed" its relationship with Detroit police to assist in patrolling the RenCen, according to Timothy Bourgeois, executive director of MCOLES.
The commission had been investigating potential licensing violations. On Tuesday, it said the security force obtained its license properly. It is now waiting for the results of Michigan State Police's ongoing investigation into the abuse allegations against the security firm's officers, he said.
MCOLES wants to be able to have those results in case the security force or anyone associated applies for a state license in the future, said Joseph Kempa, deputy executive director of MCOLES.
In December, General Motors ordered the security firm to stop making arrests at the RenCen and officers were no longer allowed to carry handcuffs, according to Kevin Kelly, a spokesperson for GM. The number of officers allowed to carry guns had also been reduced.
And prior to that, GM kicked those security officers accused of abuse and racism off its Detroit properties and mandated racial sensitivity and de-escalation training, the automaker confirmed a day after the Free Press reported the allegations in November.
The private security force is majority-owned by G4S Secure Solutions, an international security company based in Florida, according to court documents filed in 2022. Allied Universal acquired G4S in April 2021.
A General Motors spokesperson previously said company officials were "disturbed" by the allegations and have "zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination."
Allied Universal and attorneys representing G4S and RCMC did not immediately respond to a request Tuesday for comment.
"Allied Universal has zero tolerance for discrimination and use of force of any kind," the security company said in a previous statement in November. "We were shocked and appalled upon learning of the incidents taking place at the Renaissance Center."
Two pending federal lawsuits allege a pattern of white officers assaulting, targeting, harassing and unlawfully detaining Black people in a basement cell of the RenCen.
GM, G4S and RCMC have each been named in various lawsuits.
That includes a federal lawsuit filed in early 2023 by a man who said white officers assaulted him so severely he suffered a brain injury. He was detained in a basement cell for hours, denied use of a restroom, and was forced to urinate on himself, the lawsuit alleges. He was never charged with a crime.
Also a plaintiff in that suit is a Black woman who, in August, was struck in the face by a white officer after an argument over whether she could bring her bike into the building, according to the federal lawsuit. The woman suffers from mental illness, the lawsuit states.
Video reviewed by the Free Press shows the security officer slamming the woman into a concrete pillar before forcing her to the ground and punching her in the face repeatedly while on top of her. There is no audio in the video.
A Detroit Police Department official has said that the woman allegedly attacked a Renaissance Center officer with a tree branch. A court check found that no criminal charges have been filed against her as of late last year.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442 or asahouri@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: RenCen security to give up arrest powers after abuse allegations
