GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A local group believes that police in Grand Rapids have too much power.
The group 'Defund the GRPD' held a public forum Thursday night saying that police in Grand Rapids have escalated situations in minority communities.
"I'm thinking about 12 year old's over at Martin Luther King park a couple years ago, play fighting in the way that you do as a kid, and then they end their day face down, on their bellies stretched out with cuffs on their tiny wrists," said one individual at the meeting.
The group wants a different approach to policing that is more community focused.
Ed Kettle is a former Police Union spokesman who believes that law enforcement is critical for Grand Rapids.
"I know people get frustrated from time to time because they don't think they are being listened to but they are...it just takes awhile to formulate things," says Kettle.
He says that positive changes are happening at GRPD but warns that cutting the department would hurt safety in the city.
"Our force is already way down, I know they get work done, they are solving crimes, getting the work done and taking bad guys off the street...but there is just not enough to go around the cover the city adequately," says Kettle.
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