In 2025, East Lansing Police Department officers were much more likely to use severe force against Black people than white people, even when controlling for factors like resisting arrest, according to a 25-page draft analysis authored by Adrian College professor Cedrick Heraux.
The city’s Police Oversight Commission hired Heraux to complete the report by analyzing written narratives and raw data describing incidents where ELPD officers used force while on the job. Incidents captured in the data range from minor encounters where an officer grabs a person’s shoulder to keep them from walking away to more serious uses of force like an officer pointing their handgun at someone or pepper spraying them.
The draft report confirms earlier reporting by East Lansing Info that there was a more than 50% spike in the number of incidents force was used in 2025 compared to 2024 and a widening racial gap. ELPD officers used force during 198 incidents against 274 individuals in 2025, up from 131 incidents where 171 people were subjected to force in 2024.
About 54% of those subjected to force were Black and 31% were white, according to the report. This was a big shift from 2024, when about 46% of the individuals who force was used against were Black and 49% were white…