Detroit PD Officer Kwame Powell Posts:
Officer Kwame Powell's Original Charges:
- Assault by strangulation - MCL 750.84 - Felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years
- Domestic Violence - MCL 750.81 - Misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days
- Felonious assault - MCL 750.82 - Imprisonment for not more than 4 years
- Felony firearm - MCL 750.227b - Imprisonment for 2 years
- Interfering with a crime report - MCL 750.483a - Imprisonment of 1-4 years
Officer arrested for domestic violence
Click On Detroit | Local 4 | WDIV
Apr 5, 2017
A Detroit police officer has been suspended with pay after being arraigned Friday in Highland Park on a domestic violence charge, Detroit Police Director Michael Woody said.
Detroit officer suspended, charged with assault
The Detroit News
April 07, 2017
Detroit Police Department officer Kwame Powell is suspended with pay after facing charges related to an alleged assault on woman he dated, officials confirmed.
Powell was given a personal bond of $50,000 Wednesday at an arraignment at 30th District Court, confirmed Marli Blackman, a spokeswoman for Highland Park. Powell, 34, faces charges of assault by strangulation, felonious assault, felony firearm, interfering with a crime report and domestic violence.
The Wayne County Prosecutors office said Powell is in a "dating relationship" with a 32-year-old woman. Maria Miller, assistant prosecutor, said in a statement that the woman alleges that on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, Powell strangled her and she got away and attempted to call 911, but that Powell took her cellphone from her.
"The defendant then choked the victim and she then ran outside to her car," Miller continued in the statement regarding the allegations. "The defendant followed, tackled her to her car trunk, grabbed her throat with one hand and with the other pointed a handgun to her head.The victim was able to get away, drive to a gas station, and called 911."
Powell is suspended with pay, said Michael Woody, director of media relations for the Detroit Police Department. Once the department has the court record, Powell's case will be brought to the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners for consideration to make his suspension unpaid, Woody said. The hearing could come as early as the board's April 13 meeting.
Powell was the partner of officer Myron Jarrett, who was killed in the line of duty in a hit-and-run crash in October.
Detroit police officer arrested for domestic violence
WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7
Apr 8, 2017
Detroit police officer arrested for domestic violence
WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7
Apr 8, 2017
Detroit police say an officer has been suspended with pay following domestic violence charges.
According to Director Michael Woody, Officer Kwame Powell was arraigned in Highland Park on Friday for a domestic violence felony.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig is submitting paperwork to the Police Board of Commissioners to change his suspension to without pay. That hearing is expected to be held on Tuesday.
Sources tell us the incident involves a woman he dated.
DPD officer facing assault charges can’t carry a gun
The Detroit News
April 17, 2047
A Detroit Police Department officer who is suspended with pay as he faces domestic violence charges has been prohibited from carrying a gun or having contact with the woman, according to a personal protection order granted by Wayne County Circuit Court, records show.
The protection order granted means that officer Kwame Powell cannot carry a firearm even as a law enforcement officer, said Michael Woody, director of media relations for the Detroit Police Department.
“If you have an active PPO against you, which prohibits you from carrying a firearm, as a police officer (Powell) wouldn’t be able to perform his duties,” Woody said. “As long as that PPO is in effect, he wouldn’t be able to work here.”
Powell is facing charges of assault by strangulation, felonious assault, felony firearm, interfering with a crime report and domestic violence, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. He has a probable cause hearing at 9 a.m. April 18 at Highland Park’s 30th District Court.
The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is expected to consider whether to convert Powell’s paid suspension to an unpaid suspension at its meeting Thursday night.
But even if the suspension were lifted entirely, Woody said, the officer would have to get the personal protection order amended to be able to carry a gun in the line of duty.
Powell, 35, reached by phone Thursday, told The News that being suspended from work has been “terrible” and that the allegations he faces are “very upsetting.”
“I love my job. This has been the worst time of my life,” Powell said. “I’ve never been involved in anything, not even a parking ticket. So this is really hurting me. The allegations are very upsetting to me.”
Powell said he’s been spending this week “spending time with friends and family, getting things in order, for the worst and the best.”
“Everybody who knows me knows my character, and knowing that’s not my character.” Powell said. “I haven’t lost one bit of friend and family support because they know I’m not that man.”
The order against Powell is in effect through April 5, 2018, one year from when it was granted by Judge Eric Cholack. Woody said he doesn’t know that the department would be required to accommodate an officer who was barred from carrying a weapon.
“If a PPO is issued against you, there’s usually pretty good cause,” Woody said. “A PPO is usually pretty difficult to get. It has to meet a certain threshold or standard, so if a PPO is issued, especially if it prohibits an officer from carrying a firearm, it’s usually a pretty serious deal.”
Powell said he’d been dating the woman who filed the PPO for about a year-and-a-half before his arrest and charges April 5.
Powell’s accuser wrote in her PPO request that after going to dinner together at Inyo on the night of April 4, the couple returned to Powell’s Highland Park home. At 3 a.m. on the morning of April 5, she was awakened by Powell choking her. She tried to run into his living room to call 911 and gather her bags.
“At this point, he choked me again,” she wrote in the PPO request. “I tried calling 911 but he took my phone. The next thing I knew ... I was on the floor in his kitchen being choked by him. He choked me so hard my eyes felt like they were going to pop out.”
She escaped through the front door but wrote that Powell put her in her trunk, choked her, and held a gun to her head “saying he could kill me and nothing would happen because he’s DPD.”
She says she tried to get into her car, but Powell continued approaching on foot, so she rolled out of the car.
“He followed on foot and disappeared,” the woman wrote. “A moment later I saw headlight behind me as I approached Woodward. It was him. I turned on Woodward and went to the gas station where a Highland Park squad car was sitting.”
Cop accused of domestic violence suspended w/o pay
The Detroit News
April 20, 2017
Acting on a recommendation from Detroit Police Chief James Craig, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners voted last week to suspend Officer Kwame Powell, 35, without pay.
Powell had been suspended with pay since he was arraigned on five charges, three of them felonies, at 30th District Court in Highland Park. Powell is facing charges of assault by strangulation, felonious assault, felony firearm, interfering with a crime report, and domestic violence related to an alleged April 5 incident at his Highland Park home.
A seven-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, Powell is prohibited from carrying a gun, according to the terms of a personal protection order filed by his girlfriend of one-and-a-half years and approved by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Eric Cholack. The prohibition expires on April 5, 2018, records show.
Even if Powell’s suspension were lifted, he would need to get the terms of the order amended to be able to work.
As Detroit Police Department media relations director Michael Woody told The News in a previous report: “If a PPO is issued against you, there’s usually pretty good cause. A PPO is usually pretty difficult to get. It has to meet a certain threshold or standard, so if a PPO is issued, especially if it prohibits an officer from carrying a firearm, it’s usually a pretty serious deal.”
Powell’s accuser wrote in her PPO request that after going to dinner together at Inyo on the night of April 4, the couple returned to Powell’s Highland Park home. At 3 a.m. on the morning of April 5, she said she was awakened by Powell choking her. She tried to run into his living room to call 911 and gather her bags.
In the end, the woman wrote in the request, she spotted a Highland Park cop car at a gas station on Woodward Avenue and was able to run to safety.
Powell has pleaded not guilty and was given a personal bond of $50,000 at his arraignment. His attorney, Randall Upshaw, could not immediately be reached.
Powell was the partner of late Detroit police officer Myron Jarrett, who was killed in the line of duty in October by a hit-and-run driver.
Detroit cop facing assault charges, other felonies
Detroit News
April 25, 2017
Highland Park — Detroit police officer Kwame Powell, on unpaid suspension as he faces charges related to an April 5 assault of his girlfriend, was bound over for trial Tuesday in 30th District Court.
Judge Brigette Officer-Hill decided there was enough evidence presented for Powell’s case to move forward. Powell’s next appearance is at 9 a.m. May 9 inside Wayne County Circuit Court.
Only one person offered testimony at Powell’s exam: the woman who accuses Powell of the assault.
Defense attorney Randall Upshaw asked about the rocky relationship between the two, who’d been dating for a year-and-a-half before the incident.
He asked if the couple ever had a physical altercation before; she said Powell had hit her about two months before the incident, but that she’d never called 911 or sought medical attention.
On the stand, the victim said she was choked by Powell no less than four times the morning of April 5, starting when she woke up about 3 a.m., with Powell smelling of alcohol as he choked her while standing at the side of his bed.
The couple had gone out to dinner at Inyo that night but had a “heated discussion” afterward, the woman said. They returned to Powell’s Highland Park home, where he let her in but went out again.
The victim said she was able to escape being choked, and ran into the living room. Powell chased and choked her from behind for “eight seconds,” she said.
When he let go, the victim said, she grabbed her cellphone, which was near the front door, and tried to call 911, but was prevented by Powell.
As she neared the front door again, she said Powell slammed her to the kitchen floor. She was face up.
“This time he choked me the hardest; it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head,” she said.
This time she escaped from the house, but not before grabbing Powell’s cellphone, the woman testified.
Upshaw said Powell followed her outside to get his phone back.
The victim said that when they neared her Mazda 6, Powell pushed her in the back so she was face down on the trunk. With one hand, she said, Powell choked her, and with the other he put a handgun to her right temple.
It was a black gun with a “soft holster,” and she’d seen it before, the victim said.
“(Powell) said he could kill me and nothing would happen because he was DPD,” she said. “I was afraid.”
She escaped and headed toward the front door of her Mazda. She’d dropped Powell’s phone, and Powell threw her phone to her.
She got inside the car and drove off, calling 911 from her phone. Powell, she said, followed on foot and then in his gold Pontiac. She turned left from East Grand Boulevard onto Woodward and pulled into a gas station when she saw a Highland Park police officer outside.
As the investigation began, police took photos of both parties. It wasn’t until 6:30 a.m. that the woman left and headed back to her home. Powell was arrested and released after being given a $50,000 personal bond.
The woman said she spoke with three family members over the phone, and was urged to file a personal protection order against Powell, which she did. The order was granted.
Hours later, the victim said, she sought medical attention at a Beaumont hospital.
Officer-Hill granted Upshaw’s requests for pictures taken of the woman at the gas station — which caused a short break in the proceeding — and for her medical records. She denied Upshaw’s request for psychiatric records.
Afrer the hearing, Upshaw said he plans to challenge the personal protection order entered against Powell, which prohibits him from carrying a gun.
Unless successfully challenged, that prohibition, which runs through April 5, 2018, a year from when it was granted, would be in effect even if the Detroit Police Department lifted Powell’s suspension.
Kwame Powell - Sentenced To Probation
Michigan Department Of Corrections
October 11, 2017
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