The choice and sacrifice of DrazCanna, Inc.'s Cannabis Bio-Pharmaceutical Research and Development project leadership in aiding the troubled police officers in getting the help they need to change Michigan's legacy of police brutality.
Content warning: The following text contains mentions of suicide and police brutality which can be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers. If you need mental health support, call or text the national suicide and crisis lifeline - 988. Additional resources listed at the bottom of the article.
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / December 14, 2022 / DrazCanna, Inc. (OTC PINK:DZCA) release is part two of a two-part disclosure of the challenges presented to the organization's development team starting in 2015 and the evolution of DrazCanna's Cannabis ESG project "Cannabis Helping Cops" and cannabis industry social equity initiatives. DrazCanna, Inc. is committed to innovative social equity actions utilizing the talents of team members to aid human beings in improving the quality of their lives, police officers and members of the public. Gina and Ty are fully committed with their time, energy, and minds to the success of DrazCanna, Inc. (OTCBB:DZCA) as are members of the cannabis bio-pharmaceutical research and development team, however due to the confusion from the unresolved Michigan police brutality incident, they are not officers, directors, nor shareholders so as to not create doubts to the integrity on the incredible organization team. The couple aspires for something good to come out of their police brutality experience. With the help of others, ImprovePolice.com will be launched to aid troubled police officers with needed intervention and help in hopes of improving policing in Michigan for the benefit of generations to come. "Come Grow with Us"
Michigan Police Transformation versus Rhetoric of Police Reform
The conclusion and recommendations from the couple's improvement project of the Police Complaint process is that "nobody proactively looks at or audits police incident reports along with the audio/video recordings" enabling the ongoing escalation of police officer misconduct over time increasing probability of police related injuries, deaths, and suicides. Defunding the police is not the path to improving policing. Furthermore, victimization of the victim can occur without factual evidence to support the accusations which is easily avoided by recording each and every meeting and interaction with anyone involved in the Michigan police complaint process.
The solution is based upon the psychological impact upon police agency leadership and officers known as the Hawthorne Effect. The police officer's awareness that "someone is watching" there actions deters further police misconduct and the escalation to police related deaths. An independent organization performing sample audits of police agency records utilizing Freedom of Information Act filings for incident reports with the audio/video recordings will identify the troubled officers while improvement occurs. Michigan's 588 police agencies are easily audited through either regulatory state government oversight or by members of the public (individuals and/or social equity conscious corporations) coming together to form a private endeavor.
In either approach, the expectation is the same an immediate reduction in the police related injuries and deaths associated with 17,000 Michigan police officers. The troubled police officer's cries for help and intervention will no longer be wantonly and willfully overlooked by systemic process failures driven by the sacrosanct belief in hiding behind the Blue Wall of Shame. Ty filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting electronic download of all police incident reports from 2014 to June, 2020.
"I wanted to make sure that everyone with the village government knew I would be "watching" the police officers." added Ty, "My thoughts were that word gets around quickly in a five member police department and just by requesting the documents it would help deter further misconduct and unnecessary arrests."
A Michigan Couple's Departure from Their Entrepreneurial Journey
"We looked forward to the holiday season of 2018. Years of dedicated effort towards achieving our entrepreneurial vision was to unfold in the new year." stated Gina Szpak, "All that changed in the blink of an eye from the actions of two police officers. The happenings of that night didn't help sort out the confusion but created more 'confusion' within us defining our lives tragically for years as we struggled to gain resolution from the damage that impacted our entrepreneurial, professional, and personal lives."
Three officers from Vicksburg Police Department showed up on December 21, 2018, from an inadvertent phone call to the non-emergency line. The approaching Christmas holiday was marred by the misguided decisions of two troubled police officers along with another young officer on his first day, first call.
Within a few minutes the officers concluded that the matter was civil; yet the couple agreed that there was no dispute at all. Instead of leaving the scene, the troubled police officers chose to detain and place Mr. Putrich in handcuffs inside a patrol vehicle, instead of complying with the wishes of both parties for Mr. Putrich to travel to Illinois for his mother's holiday celebration. Mr. Putrich with disregard for his civil rights had all of his personal possessions pulled from his pockets and placed in the Vicksburg Police Department patrol vehicle, while the officers repeatedly expressed that was no arrest, just being detained.
The situation unfolded for almost one hour and fifteen minutes on scene, before the "police officer created confusion" started with one troubled police officer stating over and over "Step back into the patrol vehicle" all the while Mr. Putrich was sitting in the car.
"I thought I was in full compliance with the police officer's command because at the end of the day if you are sitting inside the patrol vehicle waiting to be released: How can you step back in the patrol vehicle if you're not out?" stated Ty Putrich, "I did express concern for the officer as I thought he might be experiencing a mental health crisis seeing an "imaginary person" standing outside his patrol vehicle expressing that he felt 'unsafe' from a handcuffed man."
"After the officer stated I was being released in a minute, I felt relief as the officer waved me out of his patrol vehicle, little did I know a painful life changing experience was in store in the next seconds." continued Ty, "Almost instantaneously upon being allowed out the officer escalated the use of force for their untrained and improper maneuver, the 'VPD SNAP'. A painful neck injury resulted with the officers waiting over four minutes before calling an ambulance on a non-emergency basis. The physical damage and pain continues to this day"
The Reality of Police Brutality and Economic Damage to Victims
Six days after the incident, Ty met with the Chief of Police to ask: How could I have done better so as I would not have been hurt by the police officers?
Understanding was not gained; confusion breathed a life of its own with growing blame and resentment culminating in a mental/emotional trauma event only forty-five days later. Confusion muddled with distrust reigned over the next 18 months proliferated by actions of troubled police officers without accountability deteriorating a personal and business relationship further.
The Police Process Improvement Project Begins - Root Cause Investigation
"As the COVID pandemic took hold in February 2020, we separated, and I filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the audio/video recordings from the incident on my way out of Vicksburg. I found a place temporarily at The Lakeside Inn, a thirty-one room historic inn for most of the ninety days I was the sole occupant with seclusion aiding the analysis of audio/video recordings." added Ty, "I was disappointed to find missing/deleted recordings including an officer verbally instructing another to turn off his mic. Utilizing skills gained from consumer electronics industry experience, the two officers were heard having the nefarious conversation of inflicting harm."
By March of 2020 with the investigation complete, Ty realized he had falsely accused Gina of actions the police officers had done. By June of 2020, Gina viewed the recordings and saw the reality of what happened that winter afternoon in 2018. Based upon the recommendation from one of Michigan State Police's top police misconduct investigators, a Police Complaint Report was filed with the Vicksburg Police Department.
During the police complaint meeting, the Chief of Police disclosed that he had no knowledge his field training officer was considered an "unreasonable officer" by a federal court judge resulting from a 2016 civil rights case against the officer. Troubling further the officer's law firm, attorney, and the MMRMA/MML insurance "company" failed to inform the officer of the 2016 lawsuit embarrassing outcome denying the officer to gain understanding of Michigan laws. In 2018, the officer's same Michigan law misunderstanding led to four years (and counting) of trauma for the couple.
"I was understandably surprised by the police officers' actions when I reviewed the recordings. What happened was wrong, so we worked day and night in our review and documentation of the audio transcripts, police incident reports, and Policies and Procedures that govern the police department in hopes of aiding the police officers." stated Gina, "We created a report presentation recapping in detail the results of our investigation and presented it to the village leadership and the police complaint investigator in July 2020. We chose not to be defined by the situation but chose to to help improve policing to benefit the community and restore our reputational integrity. Seems village leadership didn't want our help but undeniably they needed help."
Except for providing 120 seconds of combined car camera video recording from one officer and body mic audio recording from the other, which allowed for viewing and listening to see the officers "cry for intervention and help". More than 150 years of collective police investigatory experience failed to do this simple investigatory task, falling for the alternate reality from officer caused confusion.
The Systemic Failures of Michigan Police Agencies Investigating Themselves
"It was clear on the form that the Chief would notify us of the investigation's outcome, but the communication never came. It appears the Village of Vicksburg Police Department is a microcosm for the need of improved policing." stated Ty, "Why would the Village of Vicksburg leadership decide that we should suffer more emotional, mental, and financial trauma for two additional years is beyond repulsive as the incident could have easily been resolved in August of 2020 with transparent communication? A four year 'Dark Night of the Soul' journey needs to end for us both."
Unbeknownst to Gina and Ty, the village's attorney advised leadership to compromise their integrity and violate the policies and procedures and to not notify the victims of the outcome. Why would any governmental entity pay a law firm to recommend compromising leadership integrity by knowingly violating their policies and procedures?
"We tried to resurrect our entrepreneurial journey but the effect upon both Ty and myself, coupled with the lack of resolution of the Police Complaint led us to a difficult decision." continued Gina, "As a single mother, this was an opportunity stolen from me with eight years of dedicated effort to improve life for my family. We need leadership with integrity in the community that does not have such wanton and willful disregard for the lives of human beings."
The couple's investigation continued aided by federal court subpoenas and sworn depositions concluded that the multitude of process drivers enabled and even encouraged the officers' behaviors from the actions or lack thereof of the village's member owned and governed "insurance company" (MMRMA/MML), police leadership, village council members, police investigators, Michigan State Police, and attorneys from two different law firms representing the village and their police officers.
The village's leadership decision of willfully and wantonly violating their own Policies and Procedures, prevented an intervention and help from being provided to the two officers which resulted in the suicide of a police officer involved, three years from the exact day of the incident. The time is now for police leadership to realize that embracing the sacrosanct belief that hiding behind the Blue Wall of Shame increases the probability of injury and death from the toxic work environment.
A Desire for Transformational Change in Michigan Policing
"The complete failure of the Police Complaint process is indicative of the Michigan police industry's need for outside help. We recognize that there are police leaders that are taking commendable actions to improve. Hopefully Governor Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel will hear our voice that there is still more work to do to change Michigan's legacy of police brutality. We ask that corporations who truly embrace social equity initiatives and desire join a team in the transformation of Michigan's police industry to reach out." stated Gina and Ty, "With the help of others, we can analyze all 588 Michigan police agencies' databases to aid in identifying the troubled police officers that need intervention and help before further senseless injuries and deaths occur."
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by text or dial 988.
DrazCanna Contact:
DrazCanna, Inc.
Hussein Anani, President
P.O. Box 600
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
www.drazcanna.com
info@drazcanna.com
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are those of Gina Szpak and Ty Putrich and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrazCanna, Inc.
For more information about DrazCanna's Cannabis ESG project "Cannabis Helping Cops" and cannabis industry social equity initiatives contact Draz@drazcanna.com
About DrazCanna, Inc.
DrazCanna, Inc. (OTC:DZCA) was operating in the educational sector until 2016 and was dormant until 2021 when the corporation filed its reports to achieve current status. For more information, visit www.drazcanna.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the plans and expectations of DrazCanna, Inc. These statements are only predictions and actual events, or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are out of the company's control. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, that the company's expectations of future growth may not be realized. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements included in the company's annual, quarterly and current reports and other filings, including but not limited for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, and filings with the OTC Markets.
SOURCE: DrazCanna, Inc.
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