At least 32 Detroit officers have been taken off the street for working without active licenses. Here’s what happened

Detroit At least 32 Detroit police officers have been taken off the street after working without an active law enforcement license, authorities said.

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) said in a statement that it was working with the police department to resolve this issue.

The unlicensed officers were hired between November 2019 and August 2024.

The initial investigation found that the police department did not require licenses to be reactivated when these officers were hired or rehired.

“If an officer leaves the job for any reason, their license is inactivated by law,” according to the MCOLES statement. “An institution wishing to reactivate an inactive license is responsible for submitting a request to the Commission. “A request for reactivation must include a fulfilled oath of office and a certification by the agency that the individual meets the Commission’s licensing standards.”

Police agencies are also required to certify their staffing to MCOLES each January and notify the commission within three business days if a police officer is hired, quits, or terminated from law enforcement.

If licenses are not reactivated, officers are prohibited from practicing law enforcement.

The commission is working with the Detroit Police Department to audit all affected officers and ensure they are all licensed.

Detroit police responded to the issue and said that all officers had received the required training and that they were not aware of the issue.

“An internal audit and correspondence with MCOLES revealed that the license status of approximately 30 officers was reflected as ‘expired’ or ‘inactive.’ While this matter is being investigated, it appears that this was due to failure to submit required paperwork to the State of Michigan. DPD ensures that all officers receive appropriate training.” can verify that it has passed and that Human Resources is working to update each member’s relevant file.

At this time, there is no indication that any member of this group is aware of this issue, and this oversight is not indicative of the quality of work each member performs on a daily basis. Each member of this group will be temporarily assigned to administrative duties to give Human Resources time to address this matter. “The Ministry reported this issue to the prosecutor’s office.”

Detroit Police Department Media Relations

All affected officers were temporarily placed on administrative duties.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has been notified of this licensing issue.