August 9th, 2026 By Liam Cowan

EAST LANSING, Michigan – The East Lansing Police Department is currently facing renewed calls for the removal of police chief Jennifer Brown following an assault on a black woman this past Sunday, where four officers arrested 20 year old Myana Collins outside the Harper’s Restaurant and Brew Pub. In footage captured by Taylor Drozdowski on their phone, officers are shown tasing, handcuffing, and punching Myana while she is restrained and begging for her life. 

Collins was later taken to the hospital and received a CT scan for her injuries on her back, neck, face, and arms. Collins has not been charged with any crimes and was released from custody later that evening. Although she is back with her family, her mother says she is still recovering and was left traumatized by the incident.

This recent incident is merely another page in a history of racist incidents perpetrated by East Lansing police. Last year, two men were pepper sprayed without warning while attempting to break up a fight outside Dave’s Hot Chicken. Police deployed pepper spray within six inches of their face, which could’ve caused life altering injuries. In response to public outrage, the police department lied in a press release, alleging that one of the men was drunk and was involved in an altercation. 

In April of this year, police responded to an alleged stabbing of a local attorney by 21 year old Isaiah Kirby at the corner of Lake Lansing Rd and Abbot Rd. Police shot Isaiah 17 times as he ran towards the responding officers, an incident which is currently under investigation by the Michigan Department of Human Rights. In both of these incidents, the victims were african-american, and the perpetrators were white.

East Lansing’s Human Rights Commission, once tasked with investigating and mediating such incidents has been under attack in the past year. In June, city council voted to narrow the scope of the commission’s powers, destroying their ability to investigate wrongdoing and leaving them relegated to holding powerless hearings and issue referrals to other agencies.

Following this most recent assault, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has renewed its calls for further transparency in the department along with the resignation or dismissal of chief Jennifer Brown. These demands echo ones made by the East Lansing Human Rights Commission, which has repeatedly clashed with the ELPD in calling for Chief Brown’s Resignation. Such demands by the NAACP include:

• A release of all police body camera footage from the incident
• ELPD and the City of East Lansing provide full transparency regarding the incident and its aftermath
• The City conduct a full review of use of force practices within ELPD
• Police Chief Jennifer Brown resign, or be terminated by Interim City Manager Annette

Make your voice heard at the next regular meeting of the East Lansing City Council on Tuesday, August 11th at 6:30 PM, which takes place in the Hannach Community Center Banquet Room. For those who cannot make the meeting in person, you can call in at (312) 626-6799 or email [email protected]. If you are unavailable at that time, you can email Interim City Manager Annette at [email protected] and call for her to fire Chief Jennifer Brown.