Members of the Police Officers Association of Michigan sent a letter to the board of commissioners notifying them of their vote of no confidence in Lake County Prosecutor Craig Cooper.
The main points of contention include an alleged lack of communication, disorganization and unfamiliarity with cases.
Richard Perrin, Vice President of the Road Patrol Union, was one of nearly a dozen deputies who came out to either speak or show support for fellow officers.
“When we go to victims of crimes and they say, I’m not going to talk to you because the last time I talked to you, you did nothing. That’s a problem. People are starting to question their trust in us as law enforcement. This has to change,” said Perrin.
Deputies said the ineffectiveness of the prosecutor’s office has been an ongoing issue for a while now.
Fed up, it was time to talk about it publicly.
Afterwards, the board of commissioners encouraged the two parties to foster better communication.
“Both of them said they’ll work together. They’ll try, you know. So that’s the good point,” said Howard Lodholtz, Lake County Commission Chairman.
The prosecutor said he’s on board with having bi-monthly meetings but questions discussing the ongoing problems at the board of commissioner’s meeting.
“I mean, we’re a small county, so we can always discuss things, find time to meet. And so that’s something we were trying to implement a couple of months ago. I think it’ll be good progress,” said Cooper.
Union rep for the Command Union, Chief Deputy Chad Hurrle is not as confident.
“We have met with him before and tried to solve these issues. And it’s kind of fallen on deaf ears over there. And the issues haven’t resolved themselves over there,” said Hurrle.
Hurrle said they plan on forwarding the letter of the no confidence vote to the Governor’s office and the State Attorney General’s office, letting them know what’s going on.
