1978 Major Case Investigation Team Manual.

In 1978 the Michigan Department of State Police published a 245-page team manual (including appendices) concerning the operations of the OCCK task force. It was presented through a grant award from the Michigan Office of Criminal Justice Programs.

This document can be accessed on the NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service). Here is the abstract page:

https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/abstractdb/AbstractDBDetails.aspx?id=53805

Click on “PDF” to access the manual.

While it is merely denoted with a year, not a date, it appears to cover information dated through April 1978, and the document explains that as of yet, there have been no arrests in the case. In eight month’s time, the task force will be disbanded.

While this document seems to do a good job trying to justify the $637,662 in grant money the MSP task force had received (see pages 12 and 13; Grant #1 was $341,987, and Grant #2 was $295,675), the most important take aways are found at page 49 (“A tool is only as good as the person who is using it”) and page 14 (chart of law enforcement personnel who, if still living, should be grilled under oath about what happened in this investigation, especially concerning Chris Busch and his attorney Jane Burgess). The incident maps on pages 99-107 are also interesting.

I keep forgetting that these crimes and the N. Fox Island crimes took place under the watch of not only L. Brooks Patterson and Oakland County local law enforcement, but also on the watch of Michigan A.G. Frank Kelley and Governor William Milliken (native of Traverse City). Exhibit F is Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley’s AG Opinion No. 5031, dated September 17, 1976–well before the formation of the OCCK task force).

The AG opinion addresses the use of local police agencies “in conjunction with” the Michigan State Police.

ag-5031Download

The opinion is clearly concerned in large part with the question of civil liability arising from actions of local officers. The answer: The state need not provide legal counsel for local police officers and “assumes no financial responsibility in connection with a civil suit arising from the actions of local peace officers.” So you’re not responsible for Birmingham PD, but you are for the MSP.