City to arrange funding for officer's funeral
James David Dickson
The city of Detroit will arrange private funding for expenses related to the Friday funeral of deceased Officer Glenn Doss, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Alexis Wiley, chief of staff for Mayor Mike Duggan, said the funeral will be funded by "very generous" private donors who have insisted their names not be given.
Beyond that, the Detroit Department of Transportation will use two buses, and possibly more, to transport officers who want to attend. O.H. Pye III Funeral Home has also donated its services. The private venue that will host the repast has donated the cost of 200 meals, Wiley said, and the Detroit Public Safety Foundation will cover another 200.
At the announcement of Doss' death, outside of the emergency room at Detroit Receiving Hospital, Mayor Mike Duggan said he and Police Chief James Craig, who is also deputy mayor, would talk about whether the city covering those expenses was a possibility.
Doss' funeral service will be 11 a.m. Friday at Greater Grace Temple at 23500 West Seven Mile. Bishop Charles Ellis III will conduct the service, which will be held in the main sanctuary. If guests occupy "every single seat," about 6,000 people could squeeze into the sanctuary, said Brenda Murray, an assistant administrator at the church. There is also a chapel that could fit 700 people and a banquet hall that could fit another 900.
Duggan said Sunday that Doss was "everything good about the city of Detroit," a young man who opted to serve in Detroit when he could have gone elsewhere.
Craig called Doss "one of Detroit's finest" and an "American hero."
Police said Doss was among the officers responding to a 10:30 p.m. call Wednesday from someone believed to be Brooks in a domestic violence case at a home in the 5500 block of McDougall, near Interstate 94 and Chene Street.
When officers arrived, Brooks was outside of the home and allegedly fired at them. Doss was a passenger in one of the patrol vehicles. His partner, Officer Samuel Anderson, notified other officers about the ambush on the police radio, then drove Doss to the hospital, quick actions that officials say may have saved lives and given Doss a chance at survival.
On Monday, Glenn Sr. spoke at the vigil honoring his son, at the younger son's home precinct, the 7th, to encourage a spirit of brotherhood in the Detroit Police Department.
“In my heart, I think this happened to Glenn Doss because a greater good will come out of this,” Glenn Sr. said, before telling his fellow officers: “If you have a problem with your brothers and sisters in blue, life is too short — it’s never too late to go to them and apologize.”
A GoFundMe page set up to meet the family's ongoing needs has taken in about $45,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Detroit Police Officers Association could not immediately be reached for comment. On Sunday, Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit police union, had noted that the city does not customarily pay for the funerals of fallen officers, and said "it's very unfortunate that's the case," noting the high attendance officer funerals tend to draw and that those costs come immediately, often before insurance or other aid has reached the family's hands.
Decharlos Brooks, 43, the man suspected of firing the shot that killed Doss, has been charged with first-degree murder, the murder of a peace officer, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon, seven counts of resisting and obstructing, eight counts of assault with intent to murder, and 17 counts of felony firearm. He is at Wayne County Jail and is due in court Tuesday for a probable cause conference – and to be arraigned on the murder charges – on Tuesday at Third Circuit Court in Detroit.