Michigan’s Criminal Justice Crossroads: Pre-Arrest Issues in the Great Lakes State

This is part of a series on crime and justice in Michigan. Read the other posts here: Pretrial, Post-Conviction.

Michigan’s criminal justice system shows signs of strain long before anyone reaches a courtroom. Despite a modest dip in incarceration rates and falling crime in key cities like Detroit, the state’s pre-arrest landscape is increasingly defined by stalled legislation, outdated practices, and overwhelmed police departments. These structural weaknesses aren’t just concerns—they’re active barriers to justice that undermine public trust and harm the very people the system is supposed to protect.

Crime Is Down in Detroit—But That’s Not the Whole State

Detroit has made significant strides in reducing violent crime. The city recorded 203 homicides in 2024—a 19 percent drop from 2023 and its lowest tally since 1965. Nonfatal shootings also plunged 25 percent to 606 incidents, while overall violent crime declined 7 percent. Property crime fell by 3 percent.

City leaders credit expanded policing and community partnerships, hundreds of additional officers, and community violence intervention programs for this shift. Mayor Mike Duggan framed the achievement as historic: “We have numbers that are nothing short of remarkable.” 

But statewide numbers tell a different story. Michigan recorded 43,260 violent crimes (429.2 per 100,000 residents) in 2024, down from 46,014 the previous year but still above the national rate of 359.1.

Legislative Paralysis at a Critical Time

Since 2020, 25 states have enacted significant police-focused changes from updated use-of-force standards to clearer officer decertification policies. However, Michigan remains stalled. Essential bills on de-escalation, force limits, no-knock warrants, and body camera tampering have repeatedly failed to pass both chambers due to political inertia.

Robust de-escalation training and clear use-of-force policies can reduce unnecessary violence, prevent tragic mistakes, and strengthen public trust. High-profile Michigan cases underscore the need for statewide standards. The 2022 killing of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, where an officer fatally shot an unarmed man in the back of the head after a traffic stop, demonstrates how quickly routine encounters can escalate without strong policy guardrails.  

Some Michigan law enforcement agencies, including the Michigan State Police, track and release use-of-force data; however, transparency is inconsistent across the state’s 573 departments. Even when policies exist, public access still varies—as illustrated by a 2024 State of Michigan Court of Appeals decision forcing Sault Ste. Marie Police Department to release their full use-of-force policy after attempts at heavy redaction.

Legislative gridlock leaves departments operating under a patchwork of policies that create confusion, liability, and uneven accountability. Recruitment shortfalls, declining morale, and public scrutiny make inconsistency even more damaging. Innovative best practices, such as alternative response programs for mental health calls and wellness initiatives, are easier to scale with legislative support. Instead, agencies hesitate to invest without legal and funding certainty. Michigan law enforcement needs modern statutes and clear guidance to match today’s public safety demands.

Case Clearance Rates and Backlogs

When crimes go unsolved, the consequences cascade. Victims are denied justice, perpetrators remain free to offend again, and communities lose faith in the ability of the system to protect them. According to the most recent available data, Michigan’s statewide murder clearance rate stood at roughly 51 percent in 2023—on par with the national average. However, the state’s broader clearance metrics for violent crime are even worse in many jurisdictions.

• Allen Park Police Department: 21 percent
• Ann Arbor Police Department: 36 percent
• Bay County Sheriff’s Office: 29 percent
• Flint Police Department: 3 percent
• Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office: 11 percent
• Lowell Police Department: 11 percent
• Southgate Police Department: 28 percent

Improving these numbers should be a legislative priority. Although the Michigan Legislature allocated $1 million in 2024—including $200,000 directly to Michigan State Police to focus specifically on unsolved homicides—this funding represents only a fraction of what is needed. Reports estimate approximately 19,000 unsolved homicides in the state between 1980 and 2019. The reality is sobering: Departments are struggling to maintain investigative capacity, and limited forensic capacity often slows progress. While the new funds will support DNA testing, overtime pay, and a modest expansion of investigative staff, the size of the backlog demands a more sustained and strategic statewide investment.

Short Staffing and Recruitment Collapses

One root cause of Michigan’s public safety dysfunction is the shrinking law enforcement workforce. A 2024 University of Michigan survey found that 72 percent of local governments face recruiting challenges, with nearly 40 percent describing those issues as “significant.” Additional reports echo these findings, highlighting a surge in early retirements, lackluster applicant pools, and increasing demands on existing officers.

The Michigan House of Representatives has acknowledged the crisis, calling police staffing “a top priority” and warning that the system is “in rough shape” across the state. This shortage affects every aspect of policing. With fewer officers on patrol, departments are forced into triage mode, reacting to emergencies rather than investigating ongoing crime or engaging with communities. Investigative units shrink, burnout drives further attrition, and clearance rates continue to fall.

When Mental Health Becomes a Law Enforcement Burden

Michigan’s criminal justice system is increasingly bearing the weight of a broken mental health infrastructure. County jails have become the default placement for individuals experiencing psychiatric crises—not because they pose a criminal threat, but because no treatment beds are available. Officers across the state routinely arrest such individuals, who require dedicated personnel until a bed opens up, resulting in a surge of overtime.  

This isn’t just a resource problem—it’s an operational failure. Michigan ranks near the bottom nationally for inpatient psychiatric bed capacity. The result is a backlog that forces sheriffs and jail administrators to house individuals requiring clinical treatment rather than confinement.

While diversion programs exist in principle, with roughly 90 percent of counties claiming to have them, implementation is patchy and often lacks necessary resources, including behavioral health professionals. In 2019, over 670,000 Michigan residents with mental illness and 500,000 with substance use disorder received no treatment. Many counties (particularly in rural areas) have no psychiatrists, psychologists, or substance abuse providers at all. Projections show the state will face a shortfall of nearly 900 psychiatrists by 2030.

Police officers, jail staff, prosecutors, and judges are forced to navigate mental illness without adequate tools, training, or support systems. Without meaningful investment in treatment access, the state will continue cycling vulnerable individuals through jails instead of connecting them to care, thereby worsening public health outcomes, deepening system costs, and eroding the legitimacy of law enforcement.

A System Stuck in Neutral

The biggest threat to Michigan’s criminal justice system isn’t rising crime or recidivism—it’s systemic gridlock. Low clearance rates, legislative inaction, mental health gaps, and recruitment collapses have all been normalized. Despite public safety stakes that are higher than ever, Michigan lags behind while other states modernize front-end practices with bipartisan support.

If the goal is to make communities safer, restore public confidence, and deliver justice equitably, then Michigan must confront the deep structural breakdowns that occur long before a case ever reaches trial. Until these front-end failures are addressed, every downstream outcome will remain compromised.