Majority of local officials in Michigan lack confidence in ‘red-flag law’ aimed at reducing gun violence

[Link]Wayne County Courthouse in Detroit, Michigan. Image credit: Christopher L. Riley, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A majority of local government and law enforcement officials in Michigan say they lack confidence the state's new "red-flag law" aimed at reducing gun violence will do so, according to a University of Michigan survey.

Further, those officials expressed concern that local law enforcement officers may not yet have sufficient training to know when an Extreme Risk Protection Order is appropriate or how to petition the court to issue one.

The findings come in the Michigan Public Policy Survey conducted this past spring by U-M's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. It sought views regarding the law, which was enacted in February.

Among the respondents, just 24% of Michigan local government officials, 23% of county prosecutors and 15% of county sheriffs and police chiefs were either somewhat or very confident the law would reduce gun violence. They expressed concern about both law enforcement officers and non-law enforcement petitioners, such as mental health professionals, correctly engaging with the process to obtain an order.

However, a majority of local leaders as well as sheriffs and police chiefs believe their local judges will make the appropriate decisions about such petitions.

The low confidence could stem from the local government leaders' relatively low familiarity with the new law. A bare majority (53%) say they are somewhat or very familiar with it, contrasted with 43% who are mostly or completely unfamiliar with it.

[Link]Debra Horner

"The questionnaires went out this past spring, just after the ERPO law was enacted, and in those early days, this kind of low familiarity and some skepticism is understandable," said Debra Horner, the survey's senior program manager.

The law authorizes the application of the orders, which temporarily prohibit individuals judged to be at high risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing or possessing firearms. A petition can be filed with the court by several different people, including family members, mental health professionals and law enforcement officers.

Since the law's enactment, fewer than half of the state's law enforcement agencies have developed a formal protocol that officers use to determine when an order is appropriate. Agencies in rural communities are less likely to have developed a protocol than in more urban areas.

Although nearly half of local officials are confident local law enforcement officers will be safe when serving an order, only a third of prosecutors and a quarter of sheriffs and police chiefs are confident in the safety of officers and deputies under the new law.

Among roughly 120 comments received on the survey from law enforcement agencies, the vast majority cited the need for training and education at all levels. Others mentioned a need for more clarity on the law and calls for formal, coordinated plans with county prosecutors' offices.

"I hope clarification on the process and more training is made available, because it's important to continue to give law enforcement every tool available to help their efforts to reduce gun violence," Horner said.

CLOSUP, which is part of U-M's Ford School of Public Policy, received survey responses in April-June 2024 from county, city, township and village officials from 1,304 jurisdictions across the state. It also garnered responses from 54 county sheriffs, 234 chiefs of police or directors of public safety and 55 elected county prosecutors.

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