by John Ball

Earlier today, Chief of Police John Seto announced his intention to retire from the City of Ann Arbor Police Department in July. An exact retirement date has not been identified.

Seto has worked for the Ann Arbor Police Department for 25 years. During that time, his assignments have included Patrol Officer, Detective, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Lieutenant, Patrol Shift Commander and Deputy Chief of Operations.  He was appointed Chief of Police by City Council in July 2012.

“I’m grateful for Chief Seto’s 25 years of service and leadership to Ann Arbor,” said City Administrator Steve Powers. “Through his dedication, professionalism and commitment to public safety, he has rightfully earned the respect of his colleagues, City Council and the Ann Arbor community. We wish him and his family the very best as he moves into this next chapter in his life. During the next few weeks, I will work closely with Chief Seto to work through transition details.”

Seto led his department through an investigation by the Michigan State Police into the shooting of black, mother of three, Aura Rosser. After the shooting, Chief Seto withheld the names of the officers involved not only from the public, but from City Council members, as well. Both the ACLU of Michigan and The Ann Arbor Independent pressed Chief Seto for the release of information, documents and reports related to the shooting. As a result of a FOIA filed by The A2 Indy, Seto released the names of the officers a day before the information requested in the newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request was due to be handed over.

In January of 2015, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor authorized charges against former AAPD patrol Officer Jason Kitts.

In May and June 2014, citizen complaints filed with the Ann Arbor Police Department included several from women alleging that an officer named Jason J. Kitts had offered to waive traffic tickets in exchange for sexual favors.

On June 12, 2014, a complaint was filed concerning a June 2 traffic stop on Plymouth Road.  The complaint alleged that Kitts made “inappropriate remarks made during a traffic stop (that) were interpreted to be sexual in nature.”

Another complaint stated that Kitts allegedly pulled over a woman on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on June 16 and suggested that he’d get the ticket dismissed if she had sex with him.

Yet another woman who’d been given a speeding ticket by Kitts filed a complaint about the way he behaved in the hallway of Ann Arbor’s 15th District Court when she came to take care of it. The woman said in her complaint that Kitts allegedly said he could get the ticket dismissed, but wanted to know “what was in it for him.” The woman’s complaint also said Kitts told her, “I want to see how well you can convince me that I should do this.”

Chief John Seto said: “I am saddened by how this has affected the victims, our community and our department. It is my hope that our actions following the revelation of his misconduct will allow those affected to begin to place their trust in law enforcement officers again.”

Chief Seto and his predecessor, Chief Barnett Jones, headed a department targeted for almost annual budget reductions. In 2005, Ann Arbor had 224 FTE employees in its police department with a budget of $21.3 million. By 2013, the AAPD had 146 FTE employees and a budget of $25.5 million. It was Seto, however, who spoke to City Council members and told them that his department was no long able to provide pro-active policing. Elected officials and the city’s police chiefs have focused on a drop in the number of violent crimes committed over the past decade. While politically convenient a focus on the number of crimes committed is myopic. The number of crimes may be down in Ann Arbor, but the AAPD’s clearance rate, while up 5 percent, is well below the national average for a city the size of Ann Arbor. While it’s true that fewer people are victimized in Ann Arbor today than in 2011, many thousands of those victims go without having their crimes cleared, or solved, year after year. In just the past 36 months, the AAPD was left with over 12,000 crimes uncleared and fewer than 19 detectives to investigate.

City officials have said that once a transition plan to replace Chief Seto is identified, those details will be shared.