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Charged with a crime? Read on to find out more.
If you’re a Michigan police officer facing criminal charges, or searching for answers about MCOLES decertification, Garrity rights, or pension risks, you’re dealing with far more than just a court case.
A single criminal charge can trigger four separate processes simultaneously: a criminal case, an internal affairs investigation, an MCOLES certification review, and disciplinary proceedings that could end your career and your pension. Each process moves on its own timeline, under its own rules. What you say in one can destroy you in another.
This applies to every sworn officer in the state, from the Detroit Police Department and the Michigan State Police to the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Lansing Police Department, the Ann Arbor Police Department, the Flint Police Department, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, and every sheriff’s office and municipal department in between. Whether you serve Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genesee, or Washtenaw County, the MCOLES framework and the legal exposure are the same.
The moment a charge is filed, your department’s command staff is likely notified before you finish processing. Most agencies will place you on administrative leave, often with pay pending investigation, though this depends on your collective bargaining agreement and departmental policy.
Two separate reporting obligations may arise immediately. Your department policy or CBA may require you to notify command in writing of any arrest or criminal charge. Separately, Michigan law requires an officer who is charged with an offense that could trigger revocation under MCL 28.609(12) to report the charge to MCOLES in the time and manner set by MCOLES rules. These are distinct obligations, one running to your employer and the other to the licensing body, and failing to comply with either can become an independent basis for discipline or adverse licensing action.
Do not make statements to anyone, including fellow officers, supervisors, or internal affairs, without speaking to an attorney first. This is not optional advice. It is the most consequential decision you will make in the entire process.
These are two separate proceedings, and neither one waits for the other.
Prosecutors and law enforcement handle the criminal investigation. In that process, you have full Fifth Amendment rights and cannot be compelled to speak.
Your agency conducts the internal affairs (IA) investigation as an employment matter. Different rules apply in that setting, and officers who do not understand those differences can easily fall into traps.
Departments often begin IA proceedings immediately, sometimes before the criminal case is resolved. The same framework applies whether you work for Detroit PD, MSP, or a small department in the UP. An IA investigation can lead to suspension, demotion, or termination regardless of whether a court ever convicts you of a crime.
If your department orders you to submit to an administrative interview as a condition of employment, you may be compelled to answer questions under threat of termination. Statements made under that compulsion are called Garrity statements, and under Garrity v. New Jersey (1967), they cannot be used against you in a criminal prosecution. Michigan also has statutes governing compelled statements and related disclosures for law enforcement officers (MCL 15.391 et seq.) that provide related protections in this context.
However, Garrity protection is not automatic. It must be properly invoked. If you voluntarily answer questions without a compulsion order, those statements may not be protected. If your attorney is not present and the process is not handled correctly, prosecutors may find a way to use what you said.
What this means practically:
The interplay between your criminal case and your IA interview is where most officers suffer avoidable, catastrophic mistakes.
The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) governs officer certification in Michigan. Your agency has mandatory reporting obligations the moment certain events occur, including an officer’s arrest, a criminal conviction, termination or resignation while under investigation, or any information indicating an officer may no longer meet certification standards.
Agencies are required to report within a short window after these triggering events. A failure to report does not protect you. It exposes your agency to sanctions and typically results in MCOLES initiating its own inquiry once they learn of the charge through other channels.
Critically, once MCOLES receives notice of an adjudication of guilt for a listed offense, the commission can move quickly through summary suspension and revocation proceedings. Officers facing charges that fall within the mandatory revocation categories should not assume MCOLES will wait for all appellate options to be exhausted. You should assume MCOLES will know about a qualifying adjudication and may act on it promptly.
Not all criminal charges or convictions produce the same MCOLES outcome. Under MCL 28.609(12), Michigan law creates two distinct tracks.
Certain convictions require MCOLES to revoke certification. Revocation is mandatory when the conviction fits the statute — MCOLES can move quickly, including through summary suspension, and the process is administrative, not a re-trial of your criminal case. Mandatory revocation applies to any felony conviction and includes the following specific misdemeanor convictions enumerated in MCL 28.609(12)(d):
Many of these offenses also trigger federal Lautenberg Amendment firearm prohibitions, which independently disqualify an officer from carrying a service weapon.
For convictions that do not fall under MCL 28.609(12)’s mandatory list, MCOLES has discretion to investigate and potentially revoke certification. This includes first-offense OWI, simple misdemeanors, and other offenses not specifically enumerated in the statute. Factors MCOLES considers include the nature and severity of the offense, your disciplinary history, whether the conduct reflects on your fitness to serve, and whether you were truthful during the investigation.
This is where the specific facts of your case, and how you handled the investigation, can make a real difference in the outcome.
MCOLES revokes certification when an “adjudication of guilt” occurs, a term that can include more than a traditional conviction after trial. Deferred or diversionary outcomes, including HYTA placements, 7411 dispositions, and pleas held in abeyance, may still create certification consequences depending on how the court records the outcome and whether it qualifies as an adjudication of guilt under the statute and MCOLES rules. Do not assume a deferred outcome eliminates your licensing exposure. Consult counsel before accepting any plea or deferral, because the exact structure and how the court records it can significantly affect your certification.
A felony conviction will almost always end your ability to serve as a certified law enforcement officer in Michigan. Beyond MCOLES decertification under MCL 28.609(12), a felony conviction prohibits you from possessing a firearm under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)), may result in forfeiture of pension benefits depending on the nature of the felony and your pension plan’s terms, and disqualifies you from employment in most law enforcement roles nationally.
Under current MCOLES rules, a felony conviction results in loss of certification with no reinstatement process available. This makes the outcome of the criminal case the most consequential proceeding of the four.
Misdemeanor charges create more nuance. As noted above, certain misdemeanors trigger mandatory revocation under MCL 28.609(12). Others fall into discretionary review territory.
Domestic violence misdemeanors require analysis on two separate tracks. Second-offense domestic violence and convictions under MCL 750.81a are mandatory revocation offenses under the statute. But even a first-offense domestic violence misdemeanor that meets the federal definition under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33) triggers the Lautenberg Amendment firearm ban. Because officers must be able to lawfully possess a firearm to perform their duties, a qualifying domestic violence conviction under federal law typically makes continued employment as a sworn officer impossible regardless of where MCOLES lands.
OWI/DUI convictions follow the same two-track logic. A second offense within seven years triggers mandatory revocation under MCL 257.625(1) or (8). A first offense goes to discretionary review, where the outcome depends on your history and the specific facts.
MCOLES treats misdemeanors involving dishonesty, including theft, fraud, and false reporting, very seriously even when they fall below the felony threshold and do not appear on the mandatory list. MCOLES typically reviews these cases under its discretionary authority and often decides to decertify the officer.
Even where MCOLES does not decertify, your agency retains independent authority to terminate your employment based on a misdemeanor conviction.
Your department can discipline or terminate you under a different standard than “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Employment decisions use the preponderance of the evidence standard, which means your agency can terminate you if it believes it is more likely than not that you engaged in misconduct, even if a criminal court acquits you.
An acquittal does not automatically restore your job. Departments often terminate officers after an acquittal when an internal affairs investigation identifies independent policy violations or when leadership determines the underlying conduct is incompatible with continued service.
If you have union representation, your collective bargaining agreement likely provides procedural protections, including the right to a pre-termination hearing, although those protections still have limits.
One of the most serious and least understood consequences of a criminal charge or finding of dishonesty is what happens to your credibility as a witness — and what prosecutors are required to do with that information.
Under Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States, prosecutors are required to disclose to defense attorneys any information that could be used to impeach a law enforcement witness. Placement on a prosecutor’s Brady/Giglio list can happen after a sustained IA finding, an integrity violation, or a court finding about an officer’s truthfulness. If a finding is made that you were dishonest — whether in the criminal case, the IA investigation, or any other proceeding — your name may be placed on that list.
The practical consequences are severe:
Brady/Giglio designation can end a law enforcement career even when MCOLES does not revoke certification and even when the criminal case results in an acquittal. It is a consequence that operates entirely outside the four formal proceedings, and it receives almost no attention in the standard advice given to officers facing charges.
Resigning while an investigation is pending is one of the most misunderstood decisions an officer can make, and one of the most consequential.
Some officers believe that resigning before IA completes its investigation will stop the process or prevent MCOLES from being notified. It will not. Michigan law requires your agency to report any resignation that occurs while an officer is under investigation under MCOLES rules. The agency must send that report to MCOLES regardless of whether it terminated you or whether the investigation reached a conclusion.
Resignation also affects your record in national decertification databases used in law enforcement background checks. An entry reflecting “resigned while under investigation” can follow you nationally and will appear when other departments conduct their hiring review.
“Resignation in lieu of termination” is sometimes offered by agencies as an alternative to a formal termination proceeding. Whether to accept that offer involves tradeoffs your attorney must evaluate carefully. In some situations it preserves pension vesting. In others it waives CBA protections, unemployment eligibility, or the right to grieve the underlying discipline. It may also affect how the resignation is coded in personnel records and what your agency discloses in future reference checks.
Never resign while under investigation without first speaking to an attorney who understands all four proceedings you are facing. The decision looks simple. It is not.
Most Michigan law enforcement officers belong to a union, and most of those unions provide access to a legal defense fund through monthly dues contributions. Understanding what that coverage does and does not cover is essential.
Michigan’s major law enforcement unions include:
Union legal defense funds typically cover criminal defense costs arising from duty-related incidents, administrative proceedings including MCOLES certification actions, and in some plans, legal consultation from the date of the incident. These policies often do not cover off duty criminal charges unrelated to your employment, civil litigation brought against you personally, or cases where the fund administrator determines coverage is not warranted. Fund administrators, not you, make coverage decisions.
This means that even if your union LDF covers part of your defense, you may need independent counsel who answers only to you. Your union attorney’s first obligation is to the bargaining unit. When your interests and the union’s interests diverge, which happens more than officers expect, you need someone in your corner who represents only you.
Before a government employer terminates a tenured public employee, due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard. In law enforcement, people commonly call this pre-termination meeting a Loudermill hearing, named after Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill (1985).
At a Loudermill hearing, your employer must tell you the charges or reasons for the proposed termination. The employer must also explain the evidence and allow you to present your side of the story.
This process is not a full evidentiary hearing. It is not a trial. However, it gives you a chance to present facts that may change the outcome before termination occurs.
Officers who arrive unprepared often harm their case. The same risk applies to officers who appear without counsel or treat the Loudermill hearing as a formality. Many lose the only pre-termination opportunity they will have.
After termination, your options change. You may need to pursue arbitration under your collective bargaining agreement, civil service proceedings, or litigation. These processes usually take longer, cost more, and produce less predictable outcomes than addressing the issue effectively at the Loudermill stage.
Pension forfeiture for public safety officers in Michigan depends on your specific pension plan. In some cases, the Michigan Public Employee Retirement Benefits Forfeiture Act (1994 PA 350, MCL 38.2701 et seq., as amended) also applies.
Michigan law can require the loss of vested retirement benefits after certain felony convictions tied directly to public employment. These may include corruption, theft of public funds, bribery, or misconduct in office.
The impact depends on the exact conviction, the underlying conduct, and the terms of your pension plan. Many plans include their own forfeiture provisions. In some cases, those rules go beyond the minimum requirements in the statute.
Do not resign, retire, or accept a plea without reviewing the pension consequences with counsel.
Different agencies use different pension systems. Officers in Detroit fall under the Detroit General Retirement System. MSP troopers participate in a separate state retirement plan. Municipal officers in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, and other cities usually participate in their city pension system or in MERS. Each plan has its own rules and consequences.
Your ability to work in law enforcement elsewhere depends on the outcome of each proceeding.
If prosecutors charge you but a court does not convict you, your department may allow you to continue working or return to duty. The final decision often depends on the outcome of the internal affairs investigation and any review by MCOLES. Some departments hire officers after an acquittal. Others do not.
If you receive a non disqualifying misdemeanor conviction and MCOLES does not revoke your certification, you may still qualify for employment with another agency. However, most departments conduct background checks that will reveal the conviction.
If MCOLES revokes your certification, you cannot work as a certified law enforcement officer anywhere in Michigan.
If a court convicts you of a felony, you cannot work in law enforcement in Michigan. In most other states, a Michigan felony conviction will also prevent certification.
Many law enforcement agencies across the country use background databases and decertification records during hiring. A Michigan decertification or a resignation during an investigation can follow you across state lines.
If you have been charged with a crime or notified that you are under investigation, your first call should be to a criminal defense attorney with specific experience in Michigan law enforcement cases, not a union rep, not a colleague, and not a general practice attorney who will learn MCOLES rules on your time and your dime.
These cases are not routine criminal matters. They involve employment law, administrative law, federal firearm restrictions, certification law, and in some cases Brady/Giglio credibility consequences that operate entirely outside the formal proceedings. Whether you work for the Detroit Police Department, the Michigan State Police, the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, or a small municipal department anywhere in the Lower or Upper Peninsula, you need counsel who understands all of it at once and sees all four proceedings as one integrated problem.
We represent Michigan law enforcement officers across the entire state. Call us today for a confidential consultation.
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This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. If you are a Michigan law enforcement officer facing criminal charges or an internal investigation. Contact a Michigan criminal defense attorney immediately.
