State Roundup . . .

Saginaw
Old Town district gets surveillance cameras installed
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Police in Saginaw are working with local business owners to install nearly a dozen surveillance cameras in the city’s Old Town district.

Saginaw police Chief Robert Ruth told The Saginaw News he hopes the cameras will discourage criminal activity and provide a sense of security to visitors.

“Really, it’s a preventative measure,” Ruth said. “We want people to know they can come down here and they’re safe. We want people to know they’re there. We want people to know we’re watching.”

The idea to move police cameras into Old Town stemmed from a series of 2014 sexual assaults, Ruth said. A suspect is awaiting trial in the case.

The police department in 2012 unveiled a network of more than 50 cameras throughout Saginaw called the Regional Analysis of Police Technology, Operations and Reporting system, or RAPTOR. The city’s shrinking residential core, however, has reduced the usefulness of some of the cameras.

“Some of the cameras were in areas where there aren’t any houses anymore,” Ruth said. “These cameras were looking at nothing, so we said, ‘Let’s put them somewhere where they will do some good.’ It’s better to be watching the business district to prevent crime than to be watching an empty field with trees all over it.”

The cost of moving 11 of the department’s cameras to Old Town is being covered through an effort that involves business owners in the district, the Old Town Business Association, the Saginaw Downtown Development Authority and the city.

Local property owners offered up locations to mount cameras and will pay for electricity that is used to run the cameras, Ruth said. Technology upgrades allow the cameras to be remotely monitored on computers and mobile devices, the newspaper reported.

The first two cameras were installed at a city parking lot just before the Fourth of July holiday. Plans also call for a second phase of the project in downtown.

Bay City
Commission approves body cameras for its police officers
BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) — All police officers in Bay City will be getting body cameras.

The Bay City Times reports the city commission on Monday unanimously approved the purchase of 30 cameras.

The initial cost of the system, which includes cameras, equipment replacement, video storage and management software, is around $36,000. That cost is being offset by a $7,000 grant from the Bay Area Community Foundation and other funding could come in.

In addition to the equipment, the city will hire a part-time clerical worker to manage footage and handle related Freedom of Information Act requests.

A number of other Michigan departments are adding body cameras or considering them. President Barack Obama has promoted the use of body cameras by police after last year’s shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Garfield Twp.
Mom suspected of killing husband, kids and then self
GARFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A woman found dead in a northern Michigan house with her husband and two young children is suspected of killing them and fatally stabbing herself, authorities said Monday.

Tamisha Mendenhall, 34, suffered a self-inflicted, fatal stab wound in the groin that pierced her femoral artery, Michigan State Police said in a news release Monday.

The exact cause of death is pending for her husband, Jeffrey Allan Mendenhall, 54; 6-year-old Thomas; and 3-year-old Olivia, said Sgt. Scott Bates.

Authorities say the deaths appear to be a “homicide-suicide” and that Tamisha Mendenhall was the last person alive in their Garfield Township home.

Troopers found their bodies Thursday. They likely died two days earlier.

It’s not clear if Tamisha Mendenhall acted alone in the deaths, state police Lt. Kip Belcher told The Grand Rapids Press Monday.

Belcher said a note was found that “mentioned the children were innocent.” The note was believed to have been written by Jeffrey Mendenhall.

“There’s absolutely no conclusion at this point that the mother was the sole responsible individual for committing the homicides of the two young children,” Belcher told the newspaper. “We certainly cannot eliminate Jeff as being a participant.”

He told the Traverse City Record-Eagle: “What we do not know is whether Jeffrey Mendenhall or the two young children expired first. We do not know in what order that took place. Neither do we know at this point in time which parent, or whether both parents were responsible for the death of the children.”

Preliminary autopsy results showed no signs of physical injury to the father and children. Empty prescription medication bottles were found in the house and a helium tank in the children’s room, police said in a release.

Medications listed on the bottles contained Benzodiazepine, which police said generally is prescribed to treat anxiety and induce sleep.

“Some of the prescription medication capsules had been opened,” police said. “White residue was discovered on a couple small medical cups.”

Officers also found empty trash bags, vinyl tubing and the helium tank’s valve in a kitchen trash container. The valve had been modified with tape to attach it to the vinyl tubing.

Jeffrey Mendenhall’s body was on a hallway floor. His head was on a pillow in the doorway where the bodies of their children were found. He also was holding flowers.

Tamisha Mendenhall’s body was found a few feet away.

Ann Arbor
City Council turns to sharpshooters to kill 100 deer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Ann Arbor has approved a plan to hire sharpshooters to kill deer in the city each winter.

The Ann Arbor News reports City Council voted 8-1 early Tuesday in favor of using the lethal approach in the next four years, starting with 100 deer this winter. Officials plan to keep options open about possibly using deer fertility control in the future.

The vote follows more than a year of city discussions and study. Complaints from some residents about damage to landscaping and concerns about deer-vehicle crashes prompted study of the issue. Opponents say killings are unwarranted and inhumane.