Warrant Request for Detroit Firefighters Union Head Returned to Police

Wayne County prosecutors kicked a warrant request back to the Detroit Police Department in the case of a fire union official accused of publicly sharing sensitive information about witnesses in a homicide case.

Police Chief James Craig confirmed earlier this month that detectives were investigating social media posts by Mike Nevin, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association.

Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said police made a warrant request Tuesday.

"This afternoon the warrant request was returned to DPD for further investigation," Miller said Wednesday in an email.

At a press conference in early December, Craig said Nevin shared unredacted police reports on Facebook that identified witnesses, potentially putting them in harm's way.

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"Launching this criminal probe had nothing to do with his criticism of this department and its response time to this homicide," Craig said. "However, it had everything to do with the release of information containing confidential and sensitive information relative to several witnesses to a homicide."

Craig did not provide details about the homicide, nor did Nevin's attorney in a Wednesday interview with the Detroit Free Press.

The Detroit News previously reported that Nevin shared information about a Nov. 23 shooting at Junction and Warren on the city's west side.

Craig noted that Nevin asserted that it took police 40 minutes to arrive. He also said the person who initially called police was "indiscernible," so it was dispatched as an "unknown trouble call," which is not typically categorized as top priority call.

Craig said the firefighters who arrived on the scene found a shooting victim and called police. Officers arrived six minutes after that, the chief said.

Nevin's attorney, Michael Rataj, said Nevin was merely exercising his free speech rights.

"Firefighters come to a homicide scene and they have to wait," Rataj said, "and the perpetrator's potentially still at the scene, and firefighters have to take cover, and have to wait 30 minutes, whatever it was, 40 minutes, for a car to arrive. ... Literally their lives are at risk when they show up at scenes because there's no police cars to assist.

"That’s what Capt. Nevin is complaining about, and he wants the public to know."

Rataj declined to comment on the decision by prosecutors to send the case back to police. A police spokeswoman said Wednesday night that the detective involved in the case wasn't immediately available to comment.

Rataj said he hopes Nevin isn't charged with a crime, but said if he is, evidence would be revealed in court that would leave people surprised "(about) how unsafe the city of Detroit really is."

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