At the Ypsilanti City Council meeting that took place Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, Ypsilanti Police Chief Timothy Anderson presented a slideshow concerning police department updates within the city.
Anderson shared that currently, the Ypsilanti Police have 27 officers with six vacancies. There are five officers currently in training and one recruit that is being sent to the academy by the end of this month.
“I do think we have a difficulty retaining officers,” Anderson said. He said that there is currently a very competitive market. “To be quite frank, this community at times, sometimes from this board, provides a very anti-police narrative. So when officers can leave and go somewhere and make more money and actually be applauded for the efforts that they make … it’s gonna put us at a disadvantage to retain talent.”
In the past, citizens and City Council members alike have raised initiatives that could limit or redirect the power of policing in the city. Notably, Ypsilanti voters will see a proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot that, if passed, would require voter approval to increase the year-to-year policing budget in Ypsilanti. Proponents of the proposal say it places democratic decision-making into the hands of residents. Opponents of the proposal, including City Council member Patrick McLean, Ward 2, contend that it would effectively defund the police and delay the city budgeting process.
Offering unarmed community response options for mental health situations and other crises has been a top priority for the City Council this year. In January, the Ypsilanti Police Department and other law enforcement agencies received backlash from some residents on the tactics used in a 30-hour barricade incidentin which a man with a sword barricaded himself in a West Cross Street house. Washtenaw County Commissioner Annie Somerville, D-Ypsilanti, previously told The Eastern Echo that the man was suffering from a mental health crisis. This incident helped renew calls from community members to increase accountability measures on policing and invest in community-based response programs.
The officers Anderson has on staff work in an inordinate amount of overtime, he said. The average years of service is roughly three and the average age of the officers is about 24 or 25 years old, Anderson said.
“Calls for service, currently, when I had to submit this PowerPoint to the City Manager, we were at 17,723 calls for the year,” Anderson said. “As of about an hour ago, the last call I went on, we were at 18,091. This time last year we were at 13,575, roughly. The math there is about a 30% increase.”
There has been an increase in crime this year, he said. There have been seven shootings in Ypsilanti this year, with six of them undergoing the criminal justice process now. There has been one homicide and an arson incident.
“When we talk about assaults just all over the city, we’ve seen a 54.33% increase from last year at this same time,” Anderson stated. “Criminal sexual conduct … 26% increase. The homicide, robberies … we’ve seen an increase of about 15%. Arsons is 67%, burglaries 18%. Larcenies, which can be, you know, packages stolen off porches … 16% there. Militant destruction of properties, those are 42% at the same time last year. We did see a … 6.15% decrease in vehicle theft.”
Anderson discussed that vehicle crashes in the city have increased this year, with the most prevalent traffic crash intersection being Hamilton Street and Washtenaw Avenue. He added that the second most common area in the city for crashes currently is at Huron Street and Michigan Avenue.
Source: www.easternecho.com
