State Roundup

Flint
Records: Missing guns from police used in crimes
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Poor record keeping, break-ins and questionable gun storage practices allowed firearms to go missing from the Flint police department and some of those guns have been used in crimes elsewhere in Michigan, records show.

The Flint Journal obtained police department records through the Freedom of Information Act that detail what happened with some of the weapons.

The Flint Police Department conducted a full inventory of its firearms this year. During the inventory, officers were unable to locate 22 guns in addition to 17 already reported stolen and unaccounted for, from 1996 until now.

Chief James Tolbert said he has established policies to ensure the problem doesn’t continue. With 516 firearms registered in the Flint arsenal, Tolbert said the city is working to shrink the number of guns on hand to better reflect its department’s size.

The city has 200 service pistols, 136 shotguns, 78 AR-15s and other guns for its 114 officers. Tolbert said he wants to research what firearms his officers need and find ways to eliminate the guns that the department no longer uses.

“Why do we need them?” Tolbert asked.

In one case, a Flint officer in August 2013 had his .45-caliber service pistol under the driver’s seat of his SUV while in Lansing, records said. His vehicle broke down and, after he left the scene, the gun and holster were stolen from the locked vehicle.

The officer was disciplined. About a month later, a 15-year-old boy found the gun near a store in Jackson, records show. He and another boy used the gun to rob a drug dealer and, as they ran away, the gun went off and the other boy was shot in the leg.

The records also detail how another Flint officer’s gun ended up in the hands of Detroit police after it was used in a crime there.

In 1994, a 9 mm service pistol was stolen from a school liaison officer’s official vehicle while she was working near Flint Central High School. The records indicate that the theft wasn’t noted until 2002 by the department’s quartermaster, who maintains the department’s inventory.

East Lansing
Honor professor for sex assault research honored
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The American Psychological Association has honored a Michigan State University faculty member for her research and advocacy work for rape victims.

The East Lansing school says that the association’s Society for Community Research & Action has given psychology professor Rebecca Campbell its 2015 Award for Special Contributions to Public Policy.

Michigan State says that Campbell’s research “focuses on violence against women, specifically sexual assault.” It says her work examines “how the legal, medical and mental systems respond to the needs of rape survivors.”

She recently served as an independent evaluator for a federally funded study of why about 10,000 sexual assault kits went untested in Detroit.

Colon
Community to host new magic festival
COLON, Mich. (AP) — A new celebration of magic is coming to southwestern Michigan in an effort to boost business in a small community and attract more visitors.

“31 Flavors of Magic” takes place Saturday in Colon, with shows at a dozen locations and magicians performing for kids and adults, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. The event is hosted by International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 386.

Member and organizer Ron Carnell says the gathering’s name is appropriate because there are many kinds of magic.

Colon has a number of magic shops. It’s home to the annual Abbott’s Magic Get-Together that’s hosted by Abbott’s Magic Co., a major producer of magic tricks and supplies. Last year, the state’s Magic Days events took place in the rural St. Joseph County community.

Rick Fisher of FAB Magic Manufacturing Co. says Colon can handle another magic festival.

“Our claim to fame is the magic capital of the world,” Fisher said. “There’s only one magic capital of the world.”

In the main room at FAB, Fisher and Sterlini Magic Manufacturing owner John Sterlini said what’s good for one magic business is good for all of them.

“We need to have events here every month,” Sterlini said.

Fisher said that by embracing and supporting magicians, Colon can avoid the business closures that other small, southern Michigan towns have experienced.

“If you went to Allen, Michigan, which is the ‘antique capital of Michigan,’ there is something going on there almost every weekend,” Fisher said. “Now, they’re smaller and they don’t have the resources that we have in Colon. So why not do more things in town? Why not draw more people to town?”