DETROIT — At least 32 Detroit police officers have been taken off the streets after working without a law enforcement license, officials said.

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) said in a statement that it is working with the police department to resolve this issue.

The unlicensed officers were hired between November 2019 and August 2024.

An initial investigation revealed that police did not request license reactivation when hiring or rehiring these officers.

“If an agent leaves employment for any reason, their license is rendered inactive by operation of law,” according to the MCOLES press release. “An agency that wishes to reactivate an inactive license is responsible for submitting an application to the Commission. The reactivation application must include a signed oath of office and certification from the agency that the individual meets the Commission’s licensing standards.

Additionally, police departments must confirm their rosters to MCOLES each January and notify the commission within three business days when an officer is hired, fired, or has their law enforcement authority terminated.

If the licenses are not reactivated, officers are prohibited from exercising law enforcement powers.

The commission is working with the Detroit Police Department to audit all affected officers and ensure they are all licensed.

Detroit police responded to the issue and said all officers had proper training and were unaware of the issue.

“The internal audit and correspondence with MCOLES revealed that the authorization status of approximately 30 officers is listed as “expired” or “inactive.” Although this matter is under investigation, it appears to be the result of a failure to submit required documents to the State of Michigan. The DPD can confirm that all agents have undergone appropriate training and that human resources are working to update each member’s respective file.

At this time, there is no indication that any member of this group was aware of this issue, nor is this monitoring indicative of the quality of work each member performs on a daily basis. Each member of this group will be temporarily assigned to administrative duties to give human resources time to resolve this issue. The Department informed the public prosecutor of this matter. »

Detroit Police Department Media Relations

All affected officers have been temporarily assigned to administrative duties.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was made aware of the licensing issue.