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From Barbershop Debates to Board of Police Commissioners: Real Talk on Detroit's Streets - Ep. 11
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Listen to our full podcastEver wonder who keeps the police accountable? This eye-opening conversation with Henrietta Ivey, candidate for Detroit's Board of Police Commissioners in District 1, reveals the surprising power this oversight body holds in shaping public safety.
Ivey doesn't just talk about her candidacy – she gets to the heart of what's driving crime in Detroit's communities. With unflinching honesty, she addresses the root causes: extreme poverty following the automotive industry's collapse, absent parents, substance abuse issues, and a critical lack of mental health resources. Her perspective as both a candidate and community advocate offers a rare glimpse into the challenges facing Detroit's neighborhoods.
The conversation takes a particularly powerful turn when discussing young Black men in crisis. "There are so many programs for young Black women, but not a lot for young Black men," Ivey notes, highlighting how positive male mentorship can transform outcomes. Her straightforward approach to addressing police accountability is equally refreshing, especially regarding body cameras that "protect both the officer and the citizen."
What sets this discussion apart is Ivey's commitment to starting with understanding before implementing solutions. Rather than offering pre-packaged policies, she emphasizes the importance of community engagement and cross-district collaboration among commissioners to address Detroit's complex challenges.
Whether you're a Detroit resident concerned about public safety or simply interested in how police oversight works, this conversation offers valuable insights into how these often-overlooked positions impact community wellbeing. Reach out to Henrietta directly at 313-544-8921 or follow her campaign on social media to learn more about her vision for a safer Detroit.
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Jimmie : 0:00
As Brother Byron would say, cue the music, Nice touch. What's going on? Puff and Drink family. We got another Friday episode. I'm Rodney Q Love throwing it over to.
Dennis: 0:27
Dennis Kata.
Jimmie : 0:30
Okay, we got that now. All right, I'm Jimmy Jefferson. Hey, dr Byron, we'll be back on following episode. He had some family things that he had to take care of, and you know a family first, that's always family, even if you don't want to.
Jimmie : 0:53
Well, mr J, take us into our segment, all right. Well, folks, you know it's a couple of things. One, I want to get started with a conversation I heard yesterday at the barbershop. First, I want to make sure that we take and let everybody know you can always reach us Puff and Drinks. Well, it's actually the email address is puffanddrinks at gmailcom and you can always take and reach us on Instagram, facebook, youtube. Please, like and subscribe, pretty please, and we'll give you guys a toast. Oh yeah, most definitely. And don't forget, we have merch, we got merch folks, and we definitely would like you guys to take and purchase our merch so that you know, keep us on the air and, once again, keep us on the air. Yeah, you know I'm too old to be dancing. You know you might turn on the podcast and you might see us actually taking and doing you know where your fan. All right, gentlemen, I was in a barbershop yesterday and again, our conversations are, you know, drive and some of the things that we hear on the barbershops and some of the stuff that we talk about as men.
Jimmie : 2:04
One of the conversations that came up yesterday at the barbershop that set the barber off. It actually set the barber off, which is kind of weird. But the the brother that was sitting down, I I waiting to get his haircut and everything else. He started off right off the rip about the lions. He had. Now the lions, everybody know they already lost their first game. They lost their first game, all right, we already know that. All right, no biggie.
Jimmie : 2:28
Right off the rip the brother started and I guess he didn't know the barber well enough to bring this up. He's like you know what? I think they're going to lose everything. Oh man, got that shit started and my monkey ass was the one sitting up in the chair and in the barber. He gets agitated because he's a season ticket holder. Did he buy the lion's truck too? He says you know the Lions play Chicago Sunday. You know if they lose against Chicago on Sunday, that's a good possibility that the season over. With that set the barber off. He actually turned the clippers off. I was like, oh god damn, don't you hate when somebody do that and they hold up everybody's hands oh my god, he.
Jimmie : 3:21
I don't know why or what made the guy do it. I don't know. I just don't know. The barber turns the clippers on. Click, turn the clippers on. I'm like, oh, here we go, get the hell out of here, you know? All right, brother, let me explain something to you now. Let me explain.
Jimmie : 3:33
I've been a season ticket holder since 1978. And when I got the tickets and everything else, I got there. And then when I bought the tickets and everything else, I was there. I was the first one. Nobody else got these seats but me. You know, I was there at the Silverdome. He was there.
Jimmie : 3:47
Well, you know, he laid the first brick. Yeah, he laid the first brick. So the barber snaps back at him and everything else. Man, you give up too quick. Man, why are you giving up like that? I don't understand that.
Jimmie : 4:02
You know, again, the barbershop is our domain. You always get, you know, somebody who's arguing the whole nine yards, that kind of thing, and it's amazing to me how this always jumps off and I find it that it's one of those things where, when you're at the barbershop, people do this stuff and they, I think they actually look for argument. Yeah, and that's what I think the guy did. I think he was trying to get a rise out of people and everything else. Well, he succeeded, cause when I heard now Mike, he cut my hair and then I heard click, god man, I'm like, oh, I'll be here for another 10 minutes while this man can get his shit out.
Jimmie : 4:48
Here we go, here we go. But yeah, so it looks like our guest. Oh, ok, ok, well, look like she dropped. Ok, hopefully she'll pick back up again. The question is and everything else. Up again. The question is and everything else. And then that, be honest with you, it's something that we've been in Detroit all our lives, or in the metro area too, and one of the oh, okay, I think she is joining now, all right, okay, henrietta, can you hear us Good?
Henrietta: 5:18
evening. Yes, I can hear you, I'm sorry. Good evening everybody.
Jimmie : 5:21
Okay, okay, all right, hello, hello, hello, all right, hello, hello, hello, all right, okay, well, good, good, good. I'm glad you were able to join us.
Henrietta: 5:27
Yes.
Jimmie : 5:33
All right. Well, folks, we're going to pivot a little bit and everything else. We have a special guest tonight. Her name is Henrietta Ivey, and Henrietta Ivey is running for and correct me if I'm wrong is the police commissioner.
Henrietta: 5:41
Board of Police Commissioners and District 1. Okay, there we go.
Jimmie : 5:45
Okay, okay, all right, I'm going to ask you a question, henrietta, and then I'm going to let you explain your platform that whole nine yards. One of the questions that every voter always asks is why should we vote for you?
Henrietta: 6:01
Well, you know, let me begin by saying thank you for inviting me on the show. I met you guys maybe a couple years ago when we were all down at wjzz and, uh, we all took liking to each other, we kind of clicked. So again, thank you for allowing me to sit in your space, and I appreciate that no problem, thank you secondly, why should you vote for henrietta ivvey?
Henrietta: 6:22
Henrietta Ivey has been out here doing the work and when you're voting for any candidate, you want to vote for somebody who does the work. I've done the work. I'm doing the work. I will continue to do the work.
Henrietta: 6:34
I am a person who believes in integrity for my community and what that in details is making sure that I stand accountable to what I say I'm going to do, not putting myself before the people of the community for which I'm asking to serve. And secondly, accountability. My accountability to my community is strong. If I'm going to hold myself accountable for the things that need to be done, I'm going to make sure that the people supposed to do them will also be held accountable. And in this position as a board of police commissioner, my job is to do straight oversight and policing the precincts in District 1. Meaning that I've got to make sure the officers are out there, not harassing people, making sure that the officers are adhering to all the policies and procedures set for them by this board and making sure that officers are not being promoted in positions they're not supposed to be in due to their criminal record, are not being promoted in positions they're not supposed to be in due to their criminal record.
Henrietta: 7:28
Yes, I said criminal records, because we have a lot of police officers who have been promoted who have backgrounds that shouldn't even they shouldn't even be on the force. So all these things are concerning to me, even though in District 1, we are pretty. We are a pretty well set community when it comes to our police officers and law enforcement here in District 1. We don't have a lot of issues, but the issues that we do have, I want to be the person that resolves them and making sure the communities continue to feel safe, and if they haven't been feeling safe, my job is to go in and make them feel safe. So accountability will be a strong part of this job for me and I'm just the person who's ready to go and do the work. I'm not doing this for myself.
Henrietta: 8:10
I person who's ready to go and do the work. I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing it for the community.
Jimmie : 8:11
I'm sorry to interrupt you and everything else, this is for the city of detroit, correct? The city of detroit, correct?
Henrietta: 8:13
okay, all right, just making sure, all right, yeah, so I'm just. I'm here to work on behalf of the people, as I, as I've already done, I like to tell people so much that I've done not tooting my horn, but making it known that it would be best for a person If you really want to get to know me, invite me into your spaces, and I'm going to create spaces to invite people into so we can have that conversation around what is important to them. So I can go in and make sure that it's within my structure to get it done, making no promises that I'm going to do something. I know that's not in the scope of my work to do, but I will advocate to make sure that I put those issues in the proper places, where they're supposed to go, so things can move smoothly.
Jimmie : 8:53
Awesome. Well, you do know, we got questions right.
Henrietta: 8:55
Yes.
Jimmie : 8:56
Okay, All right, we're about to hit you with some. All right, Rodney. Henrietta, first, thank you for coming on here with us. As always, it is a pleasure to have your company here. One of the major concerns that many individuals have always expressed was as it pertains to police body cam. Body cam, in our opinion, is most definitely necessary, but the thing that has concerned everyone is the police ability to turn it off at will. Now, I'm not sure if this is an ordinance, I'm not sure how it has to cascade through command, if it has to go through the union, but can you enlighten us on how you would be able to, if nothing else, show the community that you know things aren't being hidden because of that? Or will you have the ability to block police officers from you know concealing that?
Henrietta: 9:57
In this position. As we all know, when you according to my daughter, who is a Detroit police sergeant once they get those cameras those cameras are put in place to protect the police officers from wrongdoing and to protect the citizens who have any wrongdoing that's going on. So it goes both ways. Those body cameras are not supposed to go off at will. I haven't heard of any issues of people police officers in this district doing so, any issues of people police officers in this district doing so. But let me be clear if I, as the Board of Police, Commissioner and District 1, find out that any officer is willy-nilly cutting off their cameras, they're going to have to come see me. So my thing is what would be the purpose of cutting it off? That camera is to protect both the party and the person who you are supposed to be arresting or having a conversation with. So no, it won't come across my desk, me knowing that this has happened, and I let it go by. There's going to be questions and answers to that and repercussions. Let me be clear.
Dennis: 10:59
All right. Well, once again, thank you so much for joining us. So I got a couple of questions for you. First of all, you mentioned District 1, so I'm assuming that there's going to be a commissioner for each district, correct, okay? And there's what? 10 precincts within the city of Detroit? 10 police precincts? I thought there were 11. 11. Okay, all right. So, basically so, the commission, the board, is going to consist of what? 10 to 11 members? Yes, 11 members, correct, yeah, I'm just trying to rekindle my civics knowledge here, all right. So my question is do you have a? There's been a lot of shootings in the city, particularly young folks and all that.
Dennis: 11:43
Do you have a, an agenda or a theme or something that you can implement to help, you know, combat crime in the city? The first thing that comes to my mind and I'm not suggesting it as a possibility the gang squad comes back to my mind, the big four comes to my mind. Not, like I said, I'm just, you know, throwing things out in the air. Do you have a, an idea of what you can implement to help reduce crime in the city?
Henrietta: 12:14
First, I believe we need to start with what's going on in the home. What is causing our young people to actually come out and in the behavior that they're exposing right now? Because there's a core to a lot of what is going on. There's a lot of abuse, mental health issues going on. It's just a number of things. So I, as the police board, police commissioner, my first thing is let's find out what's going on, let's get to the root cause of why our children are behaving the way that they are. And once we get to that, I think everything for me will start with a conversation and an investigation. And for me to be able to fix a problem, I need to know where the problem lies, because I can't go with to say, well, this is what I'm going to do. I can't. I won't make a promise, but what I will promise, that I will find out why it's happening and I will sit down as I, as I go through the scales of what's going on, start to build from there.
Henrietta: 13:09
The only thing I can think of right now is let's get more mental health resources in our city. We don't have a lot of mental health resources in the city. We don't have a lot of educational spots where our kids can go play, our kids can go do after school programs. It sounds a little more to me that they are experiencing an energy crisis and that's the energy. They have to let this energy off some kind of way, and it's being let off negatively. They don't have anywhere to go. It's no excuse, but they don't have anything to do. And again it starts from the home. What's going on in that home that your child is out at 10, 11 o'clock at night toting guns and committing crimes? We need to find out where it's coming from so we can fix it. So my plan is to go in and find out what the problem is and start from there, because I don't have a particular plan, because I don't know why it's happening, but I do know that it is happening and there needs to be some conversations around the whys.
Jimmie : 14:05
Henry, that brings up a good question and everything else about and Dennis, I'll throw it back in just a second, but I just wanted to actually just kind of piggyback on what she just said a little bit or at least ask the question. You mentioned mental health and we know that it's been cut everywhere you can possibly imagine what would you do differently or how would you go about trying to get more help or more grants or funds for mental health treatment?
Henrietta: 14:36
I will write a proposal because that's one thing we can do as Board of Police Commissioners in our prospective districts. We can ask for funding and that funding will go to whatever community resource we needed to go to within our district. I would definitely propose a funding proposal to find out where money can go and what resources can that money go to to bring our young people some help and some relief. So I would definitely be writing proposals to find out what's in my scope that I can do to make sure that we have these resources available for whatever reason Mental health resources, where our children can go and learn a skill, it's whatever that is needed. I want to make sure we have the money and again, I don't have a structure to say what I'm going to do, because I don't know all this big that needs to be done, but what I do know, the things that I have privy to. I'm coming in to fix those things and anything else that need to be fixed Because, again, district 1 is not a hard hit district but I'm part of a board that have districts that are hard hit and I would like to put my input and having the conversation with other board of police commissioners as a unit, as a team, what can we do together across the board to make sure every district is safe?
Henrietta: 15:54
Because, let's be clear, our people travel from district to district and so if there's something going on in district two or something going on in district seven and they're bringing the camaraderie over to district one, then I need to find out from the police commissioner in district seven what are you doing over in your district to make sure that these crimes or these issues are not spreading across the board. And I feel, as a team and a unit for police commissioners, as a unit, we need to work together for the cause of all of our districts across the city of Detroit and I think if we do that, we start there. I almost can say with promise, we'll start to see a decline in crime across the city of Detroit.
Jimmie : 16:32
OK, you know I do have one other question, and this is for the layman, so to speak, as Dennis mentioned. You know, as it pertains to civics, there's going to be a lot of people that have no idea what a commission board does. Lot of people that have no idea what a commission board does. They don't know if you have subpoena power. They don't know the limits of the power that you have. Just, you know brush strokes. Can you just elaborate for the average citizen what your powers would be and how it would benefit them?
Henrietta: 17:06
Yes, as a board of Police, commissioner, we are the oversight that oversees actions of the police department in the city of Detroit, within our districts.
Henrietta: 17:15
Yes, we do have subpoena power, which means when complaints come in and we have to subpoena a witness to a crime, we do have the power to subpoena. We have the power to make sure police officers are not promoted to certain positions when they're being sent to our desk. We have the power to to make sure police officers are not promoted to certain positions when they are being sent to our desk. We have a power to control them. We have a power to make policies, laws and procedures for which these police departments must follow, and if they are not following these policies and procedures, they will have to come visit us. And we do have the power to recommend that they do be removed from the police department. So we do have the power to recommend that they do be removed from the police department. So we do have some power, being one of the third largest what's third powerful boards in the country. Detroit is the third most powerful, so we definitely have some power to control the police department if it's done right.
Jimmie : 18:02
Outstanding All right.
Dennis: 18:03
So does the board have the ability to regulate at the precinct level? Does the board have the power to tell the captains and the commanders what they should be doing, or is that left to them, because, after all, they are on the street?
Henrietta: 18:22
We absolutely have the power to make sure that all policies and procedures are being followed by commanders, police officers, sergeants, detectives, employees that service our departments and within our prospective districts. We do.
Jimmie : 18:37
So the police commissioners are almost like an executive branch.
Henrietta: 18:41
Yes, it is an executive branch in its own ruling. It is an executive branch in its own, in its own, in its own ruling.
Jimmie : 18:46
It is OK, ok, no, I got it. Now, one of the things you mentioned you're, you're in District one and where geographically is District one?
Henrietta: 18:57
District one starts from Telegraph was down to Grand River, from eight miles to Halen, and we got old reference, parts of old reference. We have Brightmoor, we have O'Hara Park, we have St Cary community, we have a lot of other little communities within district one, like we have five. Point we it's a lot of little communities but we do cover a large part of the west side with that part of the west side.
Jimmie : 19:26
Okay.
Henrietta: 19:26
That upper part of the west which is telegraphed down the Grand River.
Jimmie : 19:29
Okay, All right.
Dennis: 19:31
You mentioned earlier about what's going on in the home. What's going on in the home. You said it twice to me, a couple times. I am a career educator, mm-hmm, and I work in the city of Detroit. I've been working for 23 years. I'm not going to tell you the school.
Jimmie : 19:51
He's in the city.
Dennis: 19:54
I am in the city and you said what's going on in the home. Allow me to what's the word pontificate?
Jimmie : 20:00
You are going to. You're doing a very good job of pontificating.
Dennis: 20:03
Extreme poverty crack cocaine parents that are not in the home, the descendants from when the automotive industry collapsed and many of them had nowhere to go. Extreme, extreme, extreme, extreme poverty. I saw kids today that were filthy For the first time. I just looked at them and I was like wow, because usually I guess I kind of keep a distance, but for some reason there's a little kid just drifting into my personal space and I was like whoa, you mentioned mental health, which I agree is definitely one of the main reasons, but it's not the only reason. So my question is and maybe this is not within the scope of the board of commissioners for the police department but is there something else that we can do besides talking about mental health?
Henrietta: 21:04
that we can do besides talking about mental health. I'm a big component of mentorship. I feel that a lot of our children, particularly our younger Black men, don't have mentorship. There are so many programs in the city of Detroit for young Black women, but there's not a lot for young Black men.
Henrietta: 21:22
That is true, and I find that when our young Black men have a strong black male presence, whether it's a coach, whether it's a teacher, whether it's a neighbor, uncle, when that presence show up it definitely brings down the the, the, the, the, the actions of our young black men, and I hate this I don't want to use the word I hate, but it definitely has disturbed me that they are lost. They don't have anyone who believes in them. They see the crack, they see the drug abuse, they see the poverty. They have a mother in the home who's working, but she's never there. Or they have a mother in the home who's abusing and bringing in men because she's lonely, so she's never there. Or they have a mother in the home who's abusing and bringing in men because she's lonely, so she's got to get her life.
Jimmie : 22:12
Now here we go. You sounded like you were just about to get messy. You had us right there. Then you got right in, and you stepped right in and got messy. Come on now.
Henrietta: 22:25
Listen, I say those things because you know what? Because our children. I told you what to expect.
Jimmie : 22:32
Let me go back to this. Come on now being messy, it gets messy.
Henrietta: 22:39
It is a messy situation. I don't know how I can say it cute, but why would I give acute? If these are the issues that are going on in our children's homes? How do we fix it? How do we help the parents fix themselves if they want to be fixed? But let's put that to the side for a minute. We have to grab hold of our youth. These are the children, these are the young men and women who we, as we age, age up and age out, have to put things into their hands. And if we're not mentoring and mentoring them and steering them in the direction that's going to make our lives better, we're going to continue to get what we get and it's probably going to get worse.
Jimmie : 23:18
Henrietta, you know I hate to cut you off and everything else, but we do have to take in and slow it down a little bit, because we only have a 30 minute show and then we do roll into our next show after this, if you would like. If guys I don't know if you guys want to actually take, because I think this she's actually. You know, henrietta, we got a lot more questions we want to ask you and we want to ask you if you have time to join us for our second half.
Henrietta: 23:45
I would love to come back to another show because I have to get on call, I have to start campaigning, so this is my campaign hour from actually, I'm an hour off and I have to go out into the community and start talking and knocking doors with my team. But if we can do a part two, I would love to come back.
Jimmie : 24:02
Well, we wanted to know if you wanted to do it now. That's what I'm saying. We can roll too. I would love to come back.
Henrietta: 24:06
We wanted to know if you wanted to do it now. That's what I'm saying. I would love to, but I have to get out in the community and canvass and not go.
Dennis: 24:10
I understand.
Henrietta: 24:13
This is my time to do that.
Jimmie : 24:15
Let's do this. We'll probably revisit or have you come back on the show, either later on in a month or sometime in October, as the elections come up and everything else will go from there. We do appreciate you coming on to the show. How can anyone reach out, meet you? You know, read your platform, the whole nine yards. How, how, how. How can anyone do that?
Henrietta: 24:39
Well, I always love to give my my number to call me so we can, you know, meet you where you are to reach out to me. You can dial me at 313-544-8921. And you can always visit my platform on Facebook. I'm always posted there, instagram, linkedin, and so you can always find me in those spaces. But I would like for a person to reach out to me personally. Send me an email, henriettaivy975 at gmailcom, and let's set up some conversations and I'll come to you and we can sit down and talk, or you can come to where I'm at and I'll give dates and times where I'll be. We can definitely, is it?
Jimmie : 25:19
henrietta. Henrietta ivy, 975 at gmailcom. Okay, we got you. Y'all heard it here. Henrietta, we'd like to thank you for coming on the show and everything else tonight and once again you came with the smoke and forgive us for questioning you like we did, but we had to go Once you come on our show, it is, we told you Listen. I just came back from a very long meeting in Lansing. We told you, we told you, we tried to tell you.
Henrietta: 25:47
I just came back from a very long meeting in Lansing. I said let me get out of here.
Jimmie : 25:51
And you came with it, and we came at you.
Henrietta: 25:54
I appreciate it.
Jimmie : 25:57
We want the best for you and we hope that everything works out for you.
Henrietta: 26:00
And again.
Jimmie : 26:01
If you like to come back later on and right before the election, we would love to have you on the show.
Dennis: 26:06
How many? People are you running against.
Henrietta: 26:08
One person, one other person.
Dennis: 26:10
Oh, you'll be fine so you got better than us.
Henrietta: 26:11
There you go.
Jimmie : 26:13
So now what we need you to do is take and tell all your family and friends about the show and let them know. I'll actually finish sharing all my platforms, as we speak and we will make sure that you have the link tonight and then you'll be able to actually share everything with everybody, and then they'll be able to take and tell everybody about what's going on.
Henrietta: 26:29
Absolutely, and I'm going to share it as soon as I get off. I get putting it on my platforms tonight, so that way if they want to jump into the second show, they can jump into the second show.
Jimmie : 26:37
We appreciate you, thank you. Thank you so much. We cheer we appreciate you and cheers again. Bye.
Dennis: 26:45
My cup is empty.
Jimmie : 26:46
Have a good night. All right, well, gang, as we're reaching the end, I think that that was a great show. I think so. I think so From a civics perspective. These are the questions that voters are going to ask.
Dennis: 27:03
I want her back, because I definitely had another question.
Jimmie : 27:05
Okay, okay, bring it on, man we're going to bring it on.
Dennis: 27:08
I definitely want to yeah, because politicians are always saying I want to connect this department and this department One thing that they always say, especially when it comes to the mayor race and the city councilman. But we want to partner with the schools, but there is no legal connection between the schools and city government.
Jimmie : 27:28
Or you know they're full of shit when they always say I lived here all my life. All my life, no, no, you got to say it right All my life. Folks, we're going to say have a good night and everything else Gross point part. And we will talk to y'all later and again. Thank y'all once again for joining Puffin Drinks Remember sip smooth, sip long and sip with us, there you go.
Dennis: 27:53
All right, cheers and drive carefully. My cup is empty, god damn it.
Jimmie : 27:58
Have a good night y'all, Thank you.
