DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Following an intense budget battle that almost resulted in a government shutdown, Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart has resigned.

Hart submitted his notice of “constructive termination” to be effective immediately, stating that his departure comes as a result of, “… the continued harassment, retaliation, defunding of key positions and other unprofessional tactics my leadership and I have endured from several members of the Dearborn Heights City Council.”

Hart had been appointed to the role in February 2022.

The handling of the city budget was seemingly the last straw for Hart.

The budget

The budget was passed at the last minute to satisfy the state’s mandate for approval prior to its July 1 deadline, despite the violation of the city’s own charter by not adopting a proposed budget prior to its deadline of the first Monday in June.

During a last-minute meeting on June 28, the City Council and administration finally reached a budget agreement that resulted in several cuts, most of which impacted the Police Department.

I want to make it as loud and clear as possible, I will never defund the Police Department — Council Chairman Mo Baydoun

The cuts made to the budget included defunding three key positions in the Police Department, which resulted in the department having to recall the department’s three school resource officers and re-deploy them to regular patrol duties; recalling the two auto theft and DEA Task Force officers and re-deploying them to regular patrol duties; eliminating the department’s Freedom of Information (FOIA) coordinator and crime analyst positions and the termination of these two employees; reduction of the department’s overtime budget by $75,000, which resulted in the cancellation of all overtime unless approved by the chief and directors with exception of on-call responsibilities and weekend arrangements, and the indefinite suspension of all department promotions.

Hart had said he was shocked by the Council’s decisions.

“I am shocked the City Council defunded the Police Department’s programs and six opportunities for diversity in assignment, which is key to the safety of our community — along with our officers’ wellness and professional development,” he said. “In spite of these cuts, we will continue our mission of correcting years of mismanagement and neglect, and ensure the city’s safety and security.”

The budget reduction also impacted the Fire Department with a $75,000 reduction in its overtime budget.

Harassment and no confidence vote

The alleged harassment against Hart began in 2023 when a local newspaper published an article implying that he was “on leave and unlikely to return.”

The author of the article had reportedly received this information from an unnamed City Council member at the time following a closed session, which violated both the City Charter and the Open Meetings Act.

At the time, Hart had taken only a few days off to spend time with his family and had stated that he was committed to remaining in his role.

Nearly four months later, in January 2024, the city passed a no confidence resolution against Mayor Bill Bazzi, Corporation Counsel Roger Farinha and Hart in a 5-2 vote and unanimously voted to cancel the salary and benefits of two directors, Kevin Swope and Paul Vanderplow, within the police department.

Directors Kevin Swope and Paul Vanderplow

The no confidence vote indicated a formal declaration by the Council expressing doubt in their capabilities to effectively fulfill their roles.

After the vote, Council Chairman Mo Baydoun had told The Arab American News that the positions of the two directors were created illegally considering the City Council is responsible for approving the budget.

“I want to make it as loud and clear as possible, I will never defund the Police Department,” he said. “I’ll be brutally honest and the truth is the truth; these positions are illegal.”

Bazzi had refused to remove the two directors unless a court mandated he do so as he did not want to disrupt the Police Department and wanted to ensure the residents’ safety.

“Employment-induced” health concerns

Immediately following that vote, Hart announced a leave of absence due to “employment-induced health concerns” that he had been on prior to the vote taking place.

“During the regular City Council meeting on Jan. 23, the esteemed body of the Dearborn Heights City Council added an agenda item to take a ‘vote of no confidence’ regarding my position,” Hart had said in a press release. “I want to be clear — I do not seek to win the confidence of those members who voiced this frivolous opposition over my performance. Their beliefs and actions represent nothing that aligns with the high professional standards, ethics and integrity I have achieved throughout my 30+ years of professional law enforcement experience and related educational achievements.”

Hart had also said that the move by the Council had been an attack against him and the two directors.

“Naturally, they would attack me after repeated public threats to retaliate against us for discovering several instances of wrongdoing and administering discipline, which most Council members were aware of,” he had said. “Conveniently, the City Council took this action while I am out of the office to address employment-induced health concerns due to the continued harassment, retaliation, gaslighting and ghosting of our work and continued employment stability.”

Hart had cited these wrongdoings and disciplines as including alleged ticket fixing; alleged traffic stop quotas to achieve overtime pay; alleged misappropriation of taxpayer property to a for-profit business; alleged excessive use of force; alleged instances of selected City Council members’ interference during traffic stops; an alleged instance of a command officer presenting and throwing a sex toy during a staff briefing; an alleged instance of a command officer sending pictures of his penis to other members of the agency; the alleged “deliberate” failure to process pistol purchase permits for citizens; the alleged failure to record and send more than 1,000 pistol purchase permits to the Michigan State Police as required by law; an alleged unbalanced cash fund in the Directed Patrol Unit; the alleged unrestricted and unauthorized access to property and evidence, including a command officer allegedly flying a drone out of the property, and an alleged covert placement of a camera in the women’s locker room.

Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod S. Hart. – File photo

Legal battle between the City Council and the Police Department

Barely more than a week after Hart had gone on a leave of absence, in February, Vanderplow, Swope and Hart all filed a federal lawsuit against the city for violation of their First Amendment right of free speech of public employees, violation of the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, breach of employment contract and declaratory and injunctive relief.

I am shocked the City Council defunded the Police Department’s programs and six opportunities for diversity in assignment, which is key to the safety of our community — along with our officers’ wellness and professional development — Jerrod S. Hart

The lawsuit alleged that beginning in Jan. 2023, Swope, Vanderplow and Hart collectively reported violations and suspected violations of the law concerning corruption in the city government, the Police Department and civil rights violations to the city through the mayor, City Council, Michigan State Police, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Directors Swope and Vanderplow, and Chief Hart’s lawsuit against the city of Dearborn Heights

Another violation that the lawsuit alleged was reported by the plaintiffs include Councilman Mo Baydoun allegedly asking for a promotion for Sgt. Mohamad Bazzy outside of the established promotional systems that would violate the Firemen and Policemen Civil Service System Act, the CBA, and would constitute misconduct in office. The lawsuit also alleges that around June 16, 2023 an excessive force incident and civil rights violation occurred during the arrest of a criminal subject; and following investigation of the incident, around July 21, 2023, the plaintiffs allegedly identified that Bazzy and other officers and supervisors “committed policy violations and suspected legal violations in their handling of the incident.”

This incident was reported to the city and referred to the Michigan State Police for a criminal investigation, while the plaintiffs also conducted an internal disciplinary investigation that Councilman Hassan Saab allegedly told Vanderplow and Swope to drop the internal disciplinary charges against Bazzy, or else he would “release skeletons” from Swope’s and Vanderplow’s closets, the lawsuit alleged.

Less than a month later, the legal battle intensified when the City Council hired an attorney of its own for its own federal lawsuit alleging widespread corruption in City Hall and the Police Department overall and the Council was seeking “to intervene” in the federal whistleblower lawsuit that Hart, Swope and Vanderplow had filed.

The attempt to “intervene” in the lawsuit filed by the police officials was an attempt by the Council to join in an existing civil suit as the police officials’ lawsuit was against the city as a whole, not the Council directly.

Neither lawsuit has been settled.

Bazzi said that he is devastated over the city’s loss of Hart.

“He was a respected key in the reorganization and improvement of our police operations — which resulted in many creative and innovative initiatives that helped protect our community, while giving our officers opportunities for professional growth,” he said. “He will be sorely missed, and I wish him the very best.”

Bazzi also suggested that Hart’s departure could be the first of several organizational changes he will be making within the city’s leadership staff.

Hart expressed his appreciation to the staff, business leaders and residents who supported him over the last two and a half years with the department.

“I certainly wish them well,” he said. “Support and good will from folks like this is a key reason I can look back with pride at my 33 years of service in the law enforcement profession.”

Effective immediately, Swope has been appointed as the new chief of police.