Killing and assaulting Black people, protecting power and criminalizing dissent: A grassroots account of what Chief Winstrom actually did over the past four years

The local news media has once again done a disservice to the people of Grand Rapids. Since it was announced that Chief Winstrom might be headed to Florida, the news media has not only fawned over Winstrom, they have provided him with a platform to create his own narrative about the last 4 years as the top cop.

An excellent example of how Winstrom got to create his own narrative is the 11 minutes and 32 second piece from WZZM 13. One instructive comment from Winstrom had to do with his complaint that there is an “anti-cop” sentiment in Grand Rapids. Winstrom gave two examples, which included the difficulty of getting drones for the GRPD and then the docu-series (Winstrom’s description), which he got complaints about because it “showed the police department in a positive light.”

While I am happy to see Winstrom leave, he will be replaced by another cop who will continue to do what cops to, which is to protect power and privilege. The City of Grand Rapids will conducted another “search” and even provide some public forums, but make no mistake, there is no democracy when it comes to the next Chief of Police, just like there wasn’t the last time 4 years ago.

What I intend to do in this post is to provide a more honest assessment of policing in Grand Rapids under Winstrom or at least a more community-based assessment on what has happened while Winstrom was in charge of the GRPD.

Right after Winstrom arrived in 2022 a GRPD cop killed Patrick Lyoya

The City of Grand Rapids and the GRPD attempted to control the narrative about what happened to Patrick Lyoya, often wanting to blame Lyoya for not “cooperating with the cop who shot him in the back of the head. From the first Press Conference the City had, to the release of the body cam footage , to the City’s attempt to silence those demanding Justice for Patrick, over the past 3 years and 9 months the City officials and the Chief Winstrom have not been willing to take responsibility for Patrick Lyoya’s death.

There have also been several FOIA requests related to the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya and how the GRPD has responded to those organizing to demand justice for Patrick Lyoya. In both cases, there were large sections of the FOIA documents redacted.

For a more detailed overview of the government, media and community responses to the GRPD killing of Patrick Lyoya, go here.

In June of 2022, Chief Winstrom held another Press Conference about an “officer involved shooting,” where Winstrom talked about what he referred to as the “Ferguson Effect.” In response, this is part of what I wrote:

At 7:10 into the video, another reporter asked whether this shooting might have been retaliation for the Christopher Schurr (now an ex-cop) shot and killed Patrick Lyoya. Winstrom responded by saying, that was his concern, and then he goes on to use the phrase, the “Ferguson Effect.” Winstrom then refers to the Michael Brown incident – he was also shot and killed by a cop in Ferguson, Missouri – and claims that there is a correlation between police killings of Black people and an increase in violent crime. Winstrom says this happened after the police murder of George Floyd, with “record levels of violent crime.” Winstrom then says this was his concern after the April 4 police shooting of Patrick Lyoya – again referred to as the “April 4th incident.” Throughout all of this commentary by Chief Winstrom, he offers no evidence that there is a clear correlation between police murdering Black people and an increase in violent crime.

The phrase “Ferguson Effect”, was coined by Heather MacDonald, which Chief Wonstrom named during the Press Conference. What Winstrom didn’t mention is the fact that Heather MacDonald is a senior fellow at the right-wing Manhattan Institute. The use of the phrase, the “Ferguson Effect” was looked at in an article by the media watchdog group, Fairness in Accuracy & Reporting in June of 2015.  The article states:

The point of the “Ferguson effect,” though, is not to be accurate. It is instead to distract us from the growing evidence about the magnitude and extent of police use of lethal violence in the United States—as powerfully documented just this week by the Guardian and the Washington Post—and to besmirch the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

It’s a strategy that Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater inaugurated in his campaign in 1964, almost single-handedly turning crime into a political weapon against the civil rights movement.

In December of 2022, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce sent a letter, followed by over 100 signatures of some of the most powerful property owners in Grand Rapids to get the city to adopt an ordinance that would criminalize the unhoused. Chief Winstrom consistently supported that effort.

In February 2023, the GRPD released their new Strategic Plan, which was the first under Chief Winstrom. Here is a GRIID assessment of that Strategic Plan.

In April of 2023, there was a public hearing about the GRPD’s request for funding to purchase drones. There was overwhelming opposition to this proposal and the GRPD intimidated people during that hearing. However, despite significant public opposition to the GRPD using drones for surveillance and to track activist activity, City officials approved additional public dollars for the drones.

Just one week after the public hearing on drones for the GRPD, Chief Winstrom made callous remarks about activists, claiming they didn’t care about their neighbors. One month later Winstrom once again was dismissing activist saying that their goal was merely to get on TV. As I note in the article Winstrom’s claims are completely false.

In July of 2023, the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union began a campaign that generated thousands of electronic messages to city hall, along with urging people to attend a public hearing to oppose a city ordinance that would criminalize the unhoused. Chief Winstrom and his department were more than happy to enforce this ordinance, despite overwhelming opposition.

In November of that year, the GRPD requested an additional $200,000 to hire more staff to respond to FOIA requests, which were primarily because people and organization were scrutinizing GRPD practices.

In December, people organized a march to and action at the home of Rep. Scholten because of her unconditional support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. Chief Winstom deployed 10 police cruisers and showed up himself, which resulted in arresting someone who was driving behind the march to prevent any harm to those marching.

In March of 2024 I wrote an article headlined, GRPD Chief Winstrom exploits the memory of Breonna Taylor, while his department continues to harass, monitor and repress activists challenging policing in Grand Rapids.  In that article I wrote:

The arrogance of cops and of white people, like Chief Winstrom, to take up space at an event about a Black woman murdered by cops is disgusting. Such an event should be an opportunity to center the voices of those who have been most affected by police murders. White people, especially cops, should not only keep their mouths shut during such events, they should not attend an event that commemorates a victim of police violence.

In April of 2024, the Comrades Collective held a non-violent march on the second anniversary of the GRPD killing of Patrick Lyoya. Lyoya’s parents joined that march only to witness the GRPD harassment of activists, along with an arrest of one organizer at the event. However, the harassment and targeting of activists didn’t end that day. Two BIPOC organizers were charged by the GRPD weeks later. GRIID interviewed both Jose and later Ky about the blatant targeting of BIPOC activists by the GRPD.

I then followed up these interviews with a post entitled, The criminalization of dissent in Grand Rapids. Four days later Chief Winstrom outright lied to an MLive reporter about the GRPD’s constant harassment and suppression of any dissent or disruption to business as usual in Grand Rapids.

In September of 2024, GRIID posted a story on FOIA documents regarding the GRPD suppression of activists responding to the GRPD killing of Patrick Lyoya. The FOIA request took 16 months to obtain, plus the GRPD redacted a great deal of those documents.

In November the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce invite Chief Winstrom to speak on the theme of leadership lessons. This invite demonstrated exactly who Chief Winstrom and the GRPD primarily serve.

Later in November the GRPD shot and killed an African America man near Trinity Health Hospital, a man who was unarmed and struggled with mental health issues. The Kent County Prosecutor found no wrong doing on the part of the GRPD officers who shot an unarmed Black man.

Two weeks later a Black youth’s body was found after he had been reported as missing. Chief Winstrom created a narrative about what happened, but family members were not buying it.

In January of 2025, immigrant justice activists pressured the Grand Rapids City Commission to adopt concrete sanctuary policies that would prevent the GRPD and City staff from collaborating with ICE. Chief Winstrom claimed that his department wouldn’t, but that is not what the City’s Foreign National policy states.

In April, I posted a story about the pro-cop media bias in the lead up to the Christopher Schurr trial, I pointed out that some of that bias was determined by Chief Winstrom’s control of the public narrative. Then in May, Cosecha held their annual May Day march, but even before the march began the GRPD threatened to arrest people if they stepped into the street during their non-violent action.

In mid-May, Chief Winstrom went public by stating that had the GRPD not been understaffed, Patrick Lyoya would not have been killed.

In late May of 2025, the Grand Rapids City Commission approved their 2026 fiscal budget, which included fully funding the GRPD. Just days later I completed an 8-part analysis of the GRPD TV show that was on HBO MAX, a show that Chief Winstron said was an honest depiction of his department. At the end of my post about the TV series, I stated:

Lastly, it should be stated that the All Access PD: Grand Rapids TV series is ultimately about controlling the narrative about policing. Ever since the 2020 uprising in Grand Rapids, there has been an all out war to control the narrative about the GRPD, because more than anything those in power do not want to succumb to the will of popular social movements, and they will not allow any conversation about defunding/abolishing the Grand Rapids Police Department. Grand Rapids is in a narrative war about the GRPD, and this was ultimately why Grand Rapids politicians and members of the Capitalist class have endorsed it.

In June, members of Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE showed up to prevent additional ICE arrests at the ISAP office on Michigan Street in Grand Rapids. The GRPD came to harass and threaten activists attempting to keep immigrants safe. Two days later GRIID posted an article which demonstrated that the GRPD was sharing information with ICE, with the use of Flock cameras.

In mid-June, two Boston Square community organizers came upon the GRPD holding young Black men, so the organizers began filming what was happening. Eventually, the two community organizers began asking questions while they were filming and then the GRPD took one of them down with force. Both community organizers were arrested and Chief Winstrom justified his department’s arrests with claims that the two organizers “inserted themselves” into a situation they shouldn’t have. Community organizers shared a much different narrative about how the GRPD responded in this situation.

In late July, immigrant justice organizers spoke for 2 hours on why the City of Grand Rapids should not collaborate with ICE. The organizers dramatized this reality with street theater, then disrupted the City Commission meeting, only to have Mayor LaGrand threaten activists with arrest by the GRPD.

Throughout the rest of 2025 and in the beginning of 2026, organizers with Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE documented several instances where the GRPD was clearly cooperating with ICE in their efforts to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants, thus separating immigrant families.

This documented account of Chief Winstrom’s time in Grand Rapids is a clear counter narrative to what he and the local news media would have us believe. Winstrom, who came from Chicago, was the consummate PR man, who continued the GRPD tradition of over-policing in Black and Brown neighborhoods, protecting system of power in Grand Rapids and criminalizing dissent.