Residents honored by traffic safety panel

Macomb Township resident Jim Santilli was recognized by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Commission last week for his 22 years of work promoting traffic safety, most recently as CEO of the Transportation Improvement Association.

Santilli was presented with the Richard H. Austin Long-Term Service Award as part of the Michigan Traffic Safety Summit in East Lansing.

Laurel Zimmerman, whose 16-year-old daughter Ally was killed in 2010 when the car in which she was a passenger was struck by a distracted driver, was also honored with Jim Freybler of Grand Rapids for their work championing hands-free legislation in Michigan. Ally Zimmerman was a Romeo High School student.

Freybler and Zimmerman were each presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award.

Santilli and Zimmerman joined forces to create the Remembering Ally: Distracted Driving Awareness Campaign, which was announced in March 2016. Freybler, who lost his son Jacob to texting and driving, joined the campaign later that year.

Since then they have worked to pass hands-free legislation by speaking at press conferences, testifying

Michiganders were price shopping over the weekend with gas prices reaching $3.65 per gallon for regular unleaded.

That’s 44 cents more than this time last month and 18 cents more than this time last year, according to AAA’s Monday report.

“Michigan motorists continue to see higher prices at the pump, with the state average reaching a new 2024-high,” Adrienne Woodland, spokesperson, AAA-The Auto Club Group said, in the news release. “If demand continues to increase, alongside tight supply, gas prices will likely follow suit.”

Motorists are paying an average of $54 for a full 15-gallon tank of gasoline; a discount of about $4 from 2023’s highest price last August.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 9.01 to 9.04 million barrels of crude oil (bbl) per day. at legislative hearings, meeting with elected officials, and assisting with the creation of the official Hands-Free Michigan web site. They were also instrumental in stopping the passage of a bill that would have made the hands-free law unenforceable.

Freybler and Zimmerman worked with Santilli to create new language for legislation. An effective handsfree law was enacted in the state on June 30, 2023.

Santilli has created and led numerous engineering, education and enforcement initiatives to improve traffic safety in Michigan. These initiatives resulted in changes to road infrastructure to improve safety, a significant increase in public education and new and much-needed traffic enforcement mobilizations.

The GTSAC was formed in 2002 to serve as the state’s forum for identifying key traffic safety challenges and developing and implementing plans to address those issues. The commission includes representatives from the departments of State Police, Transportation, Education, State, and Health & Human Services, as well as the Office of the Governor, the Aging and Adult Services Agency, and the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. There are also three representatives from local government appointed by the governor.

Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks dropped by 5.6 million bbl to 234.1 million bbl. Higher gas demand, amid tightening supply, has pushed the national average higher.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $2.16 to settle at $79.72. Oil prices jumped after Ukrainian drones hit Russian refineries. The extent of the damage is unclear, but repairs could curtail Russian petroleum product exports, including diesel, and lead it to import products it needs. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks decreased by 1.5 million bbl to 447 million bbl.

Compared to last week, Metro Detroit’s average daily gas price increased. Metro Detroit’s current average is $3.57 per gallon, about 9 cents more than last week’s average and 7 cents more than this same time last year.

AAA’s state and metro gas averages showed:

• Most expensive gas price averages: Grand Rapids ($3.71), Jackson ($3.71), Saginaw ($3.70)

• Least expensive gas price averages: Marquette ($3.49), Metro Detroit ($3.57), Flint ($3.60) cher testified about the autopsy report by the Macomb County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Investigators later notice in surveillance video a second occupant that prosecutors say is Jennings exit the vehicle and flee the scene on foot. A Timberland boot he was believed to be wearing was found in the Cherokee and a black jacket he was allegedly wearing was found with shattered glass in it days later behind the Exxon gas station at the corner.

DNA of both Smith and Jennings were found in the vehicle, officers Archer and Andre Basin testified, based on swab analysis performed by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Forensic Science Lab.

DNA of both Smith and Jennings were found on the driver’s-side airbag and in other places inside the vehicle, findings that Smith’s attorney, Camilla Barkovic, and Jennings’ attorney, Sam Churikian, contended do not prove Smith was the driver.

“If anything, the record establishes mere presence at some point of time in that vehicle, but mere presence is not enough to establish that this defendant’s acts caused the death of the deceased,” Barkovic argued.

“My client may have been in the vehicle at some point, was not the driver and certainly was not part of the common plan or scheme to steal the vehicles and race away at 100 mph,” Churikian said.

Also, surveillance video at the car dealership raises the possibility Jennings initially drove the Cherokee out of the building, and Hall contends Smith entered and took over driving.

“He (Hall) is asking the court to speculate that my client at some point in time switched spots with whoever was driving that car at the time it left Jim Riehl’s, and there is nothing to substantiate that whatsoever,” Barkovic said. “Not a single witness observed him driving. There is nothing to substantiate that whatsoever.”

Churikian noted the surveillance video at the car dealership does not identify his client.

“There’s nothing to show my client, Mr. Jennings, was ever in that garage because there were four or five people who were involved and we don’t know who they were,” Churikian told the judge. “You can’t tell from the video, judge. And there’s no statement presented where someone said, ‘I saw Mr. Jennings in the dealership. I saw Mr. Jennings take the vehicle.’”

They also argued the felony-murder charge is not appropriate because whoever was driving did not believe they were being pursued by police.

“The accident had nothing to do with the B&E,” Churikian said. “This is a situation in which there was no chase at the time of the incident. Nobody anticipated the police would chase these individuals.”

He said the driver’s action could be reckless driving due to the speeding but not murder.

But Hall, the assistant prosecutor, noted the driver likely would have seen the emergency lights of the three police vehicles. He noted the Cherokee drove past Reynold’s patrol car with its lights on at in the 17 Mile and Van Dyke intersection.

“It’s foreseeable that if you steal a car … high-powered performance vehicles … if you run, you could get into an accident, and if you get into an accident, you could kill somebody,” he said.

Hall said Jennings was being charged with felony murder as an aider and abettor. The pair are scheduled to be appear next month for their circuit court arraignments.

The case was delayed in part due to mental evaluations of Smith. The defendants are being held in lieu of $500,000 bonds. that we’re here to honor today are critical. … We know that crime often has roots in complex social issues and addressing those issues requires a multi-dimensional approach. When law enforcement collaborates with the wide array of agencies that are part of the many initiatives that you have underway here in Macomb County, we know that’s when positive outcomes can occur. A partnership approach like this gets at the heart of the issues and includes healthier communities in the process.”

The award was established in memory of Sutin, one of the founding members of the COPS, which was established in 1994 to support community policing.

Hackel and Wickersham both said they were “humbled” by the award and shocked to receive it after being nominated by retired sheriff’s official Don Amboyer, who is working on the jail project as a consultant.

“This is great recognition for our county,” Hackel said. “It’s a testament to the hard work and collaboration of everyone involved, working tirelessly to enhance public safety and well-being of our Macomb County, strengthening the bond between local law enforcement and our community.”

Wickersham said he has been “privileged to work with some of the most selfless and sacrificing individuals who lay their lives on the line every day.”

“This award belongs to all members of the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.

Hackel served 10 years as the county sheriff, after serving about 20 years in the department, before being elected the county executive in 2010. Wickersham was first appointed sheriff in 2011 and elected in 2012, after serving about 25 years in the department.

They are credited with:

• Pushing for and creating the $230-million jail expansion project with a new intake and assessment center that will allow defendants with mental health and/or substance abuse issues to get more treatment faster under improved conditions, as well as produce a safety environment for corrections officers. The project is slated for completion by 2028.

“This will absolutely be a model for the country,” Chapman said. “It’s an innovative and bold capital-improvement, community-service project that’s intended to be revolutionary and transformative for its clients, especially as it endeavors to serve those dealing with substance-abuse and mental-health challenges.”

• Accelerating efforts in the Safe and Healthy Macomb Initiative at existing jail dating back to the 1950s and other facilities “to work collaboratively with representatives of law enforcement, the courts, physical and mental health providers and an array of community partners,” which “are positively impacting the criminal justice system as well as the lives of county residents and will do so for years to come,” Chapman said. Those efforts will expand moreso after the new facility opens.

As part of those efforts, sheriff’s officials have convinced all but two county police agencies – the Warren and Shelby Township police departments – to immediately transport newly-arrested defendants to the county jail instead of holding them in a police station cell for up to three days prior to arraignment. The immediately transportation of the detainees to the jail facility allows “pretrial services” to immediately begin services and the defendant receive legal representation while allowing the local police officers to spend more time patrolling and responding, Wickersham said. Those new inmates are arraigned in the local district by video.

• Providing the “community-policing” philosophy in the sheriff’s jurisdiction and the several communities with which the Sheriff’s Office contracts for police services. “Some view community policing with more of a narrow focus, but what you all do in your community, policing efforts have been focused on building trust, establishing partnerships and problem solving through a county-wide approach engaging with any and all stakeholders,” Chapman said.

• During COVID-19 lockdowns, forging “partnerships with nonprofit organizations, businesses, educational institutions, community leaders and health care providers to successfully meet what were the unprecedented challenges and needs . ... They made sure they had accessed all funds that were available and used those funds to pay for services to make sure that nobody went without food, nobody went without housing and they received other critical services.”

• Vicki Wolber, who served in several top posts under Hackel, was credited with her efforts in overseeing the county COVID-19 response. Wolber retired from full-time county work last October but remains involved in the jail project and other things, and attended Tuesday’s event.

Though it was not mentioned by Chapman, COMTEC was cited by Hackel as an achievement that has put the county at the forefront of state-of-the art law enforcement and helped facilitate current efforts.

COMTEC, which opened in 2013 in a 25,000-squarefoot facility that provides around-the-clock monitoring of public sites in the county and respond to a variety of emergencies. It houses the Sheriff’s Office Centralized Dispatch, the Road Department Traffic Operations Center, the Information Technology Department and Data Center, and the Emergency Management and Communications Department.

Among other things, the facility boasts a 20-foot by 50-foot video wall, eight traffic monitoring stations and 25 dispatch stations.

Hackel decided to hold the ceremony there to “showcase” COMTEC.

“There is nothing like it in North America for a local law enforcement agency. This is one of a kind, completely transformative, and is impressive,” the executive said. “This is one of the things that we started when Tony and I came together, working together, how do we change things in criminal justice.”

Wickersham commended several other entities of the county with which his office partners.

“Partnerships are really the key to success in the criminal justice system, whether it’s law enforcement, corrections, the courts. We can’t do it alone,” the sheriff said. “We have to partner up with our community members. We have to collaborate with our other criminal justice stakeholders — prosecutor, Public Defenders’ Office, the courts, probation, parole, health care, Community Mental Health — they all have a part of the criminal justice system.”

Hackel and Wickersham have known each other for some 40 years as both began working in the department in the 1980s. Hackel, whose father, Bill, was the sheriff, began as a dispatcher and Wickersham began as a jail deputy.

They “had a chance to form a bond,” Chapman said, and 20 years later began working on their co-mission to transform the way the county approaches law enforcement. Hackel said he was transformed by the seven principals of law enforcement created by Sir Robert Peel of the United Kingdom in the 19th Century.

“They made a commitment that their careers would help transform the county’s criminal justice system,” Chapman said.

Hackel and Wickersham in 2005 and 2016 successfully pushed for studies for a new or renovated jail.

The 2016 study resulted in a proposed massive nearly $400-million new jail that would be paid for by a millage that was slated to go on the ballot in 2020. But it was abandoned after the pandemic hit.

Officials reconsidered the project and took advantage of $170 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars by allocating, with the county Board of Commissiones approval, $130 million of the funds to the project, the county paying $60 million and the state contributing $40 million, with no millage increase.

Hackel praised commissioners for their “tremendous amount of support” for the project.

The project includes a new 177,00-square-foot, fourlevel facility partially at the site of the existing Health Department building that will provide the heightened services and up to 303 beds — 191 beds for intake, medical, mental health and substance on two levels and 112 for general population on one level. The fourth, bottom level, will serve as the drop-off area garage.

It will involve demolishing 78,000-square-feet of existing structures surrounding the nine-story tower, which will remain with its 900 beds. The areas to be raised include the maximum security and D block sections, and the annex and rehabilitation buildings.

Amboyer said he nominated the pair after reading a description of the award. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe it.’ This is Mark Hackel and Tony Wickersham, as I read the description,” he said.

He said it took some time and effort to convince them to go for it.

“Initially, Mark was a little hesitant about it, to be quite honest, thinking it was self-serving,” Amboyer said. “But I finally convinced him. ‘Mark, you gotta do this. I don’t know if you’re going to win but you gotta do this so people can learn about what you and Tony have done, and in turn can spread the word throughout the nation. Other jurisdictions can try to accomplish what you’ve accomplished. That in turn is going to save lives, serve the citizens, just as you’ve done in Macomb County. Please, please let me submit this nomination.’

“It’s really a premiere reward. In my mind, it’s kind of like winning an Oscar. It’s that kind of reward in the criminal justice system.”