Officer Fletcher Still Suspended

Flint policewoman Madeline Fletcher remains suspended without pay from the Flint Police Department despite her acquittal on assault charges over two months ago. The 20-year-old black woman was found innocent June 19 of charges stemming from a December 27 shootout between her and other officers behind Flint police headquarters- a shootout which Fletcher maintains was instigated by police officer Walter Kalberer. Kalberer was not prosecuted in the case and today remains on the force. Fletcher's case gained nationwide publicity this summer because the issues of racism and sexism figured so prominently in it. Fletcher is one of only a very few black women on the force.

Since Fletcher's acquittal another Flint policewoman, Karen Pizzala, has accused the department of sexist promotional policies. She has filed suit in U.S. District Court charging that she was passed over for promotion to sergeant in favor of two males who were promoted with lower test scores than hers.

Meanwhile a juror in the Fletcher case said recently on a Flint talk show that he "just couldn't believe the coverage" that the Flint Journal, the city's only daily, gave the trial.

The jurors were ordered not to read or listen to media accounts of the trial. The anonymous juror said that the impression created by the Flint Journal and what actually happened at the trial were two different things.

No one knows when, or if, Madeline Fletcher will be reinstated. Her case will certainly result in some changes at the Flint Police Department, but to what extent won't be known for some time. The Flint City Council, most notably Third Ward Councilman Woody Etherly, Jr., is looking into the charges of sexism and racism, but no clear course of action by the Council can be predicted.

The only thing certain is that Madeline Fletcher is still suspended, the man who instigated the whole thing is still on the force, and racism and sexism continue to exist not only in the Flint Police Department, but throughout the community. 

-Doug Cunningham