7 Michigan State Police officers benefited from rigged promotion exams, records show

LANSING — Seven Michigan State Police promotions, going back to 2019 and as recently as last year, were tainted because the successful applicants were given the exam questions in advance, newly released records related to an explosive investigation at the agency's Flint post show.

An internal affairs investigation determined that four promotions from trooper to sergeant and three promotions from sergeant to lieutenant were rigged under the leadership of the former Flint post commander, 1st Lt. Yvonne Brantley, who was forced to retire early this year or be fired, according to records the Free Press obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

Those included the promotions from sergeant to lieutenant of Brantley's two assistant post commanders, who were found to have worked with her on the rigged exams.

Six of the promotions were at the Flint post and one was at the Tri-City post in Freeland, where Brantley formerly served as post commander, records show.

In each case, "a favored candidate" was provided the questions in advance and all other candidates were not, said an internal affairs report dated Oct. 26.

"In each case, the member provided the interview questions was selected for promotion."

According to the records, not all promotions at the Flint post between 2019 and 2023 were rigged. But the following ones were:

• The October 2023 promotion of Trooper Kevin Monroe to sergeant;

• The April 2022 promotion of Trooper Nicholas Medina to sergeant;

• The February 2022 promotion of Detective Sgt. Thomas Dhooghe to lieutenant;

• The September 2021 promotion of Trooper Jared Chiros to sergeant;

• The December 2020 promotion of Sgt. Michael Phillipps to lieutenant;

• The March 2020 promotion to sergeant of an unidentified trooper, who has since retired; and

• At the Tri-City Post, the August 2019 promotion of an unidentified sergeant to lieutenant.

Chiros blew the whistle on the promotion scandal after getting in trouble for other wrongdoing, the records show.

"I have something on everyone in this building," Chiros was quoted in the reports as having said, in reference to the Flint post.

Phillipps and Dhooghe, the two assistant post commanders, retired and were fired, respectively, as a result of the investigation, the MSP disclosed in February. Chiros resigned and Monroe was fired, the MSP said. Also, the post commander at West Branch, 1st Lt. Jeff Short, who was a former assistant post commander in Flint under Brantley, was demoted to trooper, the MSP said.

There was no evidence that two Flint troopers who were promoted to sergeant in March 2021 received the test questions in advance or that a Flint trooper promoted to sergeant in May 2021 did, according to the records of the investigation that rocked the Flint post and the agency as a whole. All of their names were redacted from the reports provided to the Free Press.

MSP officers who confessed to the rigged process during the investigation described being handed the questions inside a manila envelope by an aide to Brantley. Some complained they didn't feel they needed the help and felt dirty as a result of the cheating, but were afraid to complain about Brantley or other post leaders, believing that would kill their chances for future advancement.

Shanon Banner, a spokeswoman for the MSP, said Thursday that although Medina's name was not included in earlier MSP disclosures about personnel actions resulting from the Flint investigation, he was also disciplined. She would not provide the details of that discipline but said he now holds the rank of trooper. Medina declined comment in a Wednesday email.

Unlike some MSP officers questioned in connection with the investigation, Medina was immediately truthful and cooperative when questioned by internal affairs investigators, according to the records.

Medina told investigators that Brantley read to him, over the phone, the questions he would be asked at his promotion interview and a copy of the questions was later provided to him, in advance of the interview, by Chiros, who several officers said had a close relationship with Brantley.

He described the mood at the Flint post in late October 2023, when several internal affairs investigations were underway, as tense and rife with distrust, according to one of the reports.

And Medina told investigators he had worked hard to prepare for his interview and didn't feel he needed the questions provided to him. "And that's something ... I have thought about every day since." But he said he felt if he reported the apparent wrongdoing, "he'd never have another opportunity to promote." Medina also said he felt Brantley coaxed him to lie when he was interviewed by investigators.

Dhooghe told investigators that Phillipps gave him the promotional exam questions prior to him interviewing for a lieutenant's position in February 2022, records show.

Dhooghe "reported that he was disturbed by that development and that he shredded the document shortly after receiving it," according to the reports of the investigation. Dhooghe said he felt "disgusting" and "dirty" when he received the exam questions, but he never discussed it with Brantley, Phillipps, or any other supervisors.

"If I would have said something, then she would have had it out for me the entire time," Dhooghe said of Brantley. "I have been told multiple times by multiple people: 'Do not cross her.'"

He said he also was unsure about the situation, wondering: "Is this just something that happens all the time, everywhere?"

Dhooghe said he was not aware of selected candidates at the post receiving interview questions ahead of other opportunities for promotion, but "he had suspicions based on some members' exceptional performance and his experience having received questions himself," the report said.

Investigators determined Dhooghe knew more than he disclosed and "took no action in his role as a hiring manager to ensure the integrity of a hiring process he likely knew would not be fairly administered," according to an Oct. 26 investigation report.

An unidentified unsuccessful candidate who interviewed in April 2022 told investigators he did not receive the questions in advance and felt Flint post leaders rushed him through the process. "I just thought for that interview, there was, you know, something more going on," he told investigators.

Monroe denied he was given the questions in advance but investigators determined otherwise, according to the reports. Col. James Grady, the MSP director, blocked Monroe's promotion before it took effect, records show. Grady said in a Thursday statement there is new leadership at the Flint post, "focused on moving forward and providing the highest quality law enforcement and public safety services to the residents of Genesee and Shiawassee counties."

Investigators were also contacted by a trooper who formerly worked at the Tri-City post under Brantley who said Brantley gave him a manila envelope that she said contained promotion exam questions, adding something to the effect of, if someone finds out you have it, I will deny it, according to one of the reports. The trooper, whose name was redacted from the report, told investigators he immediately discussed what happened with a sergeant and decided to return the envelope to Brantley.

She smiled and said something like: "I figured that's the way you'd take it," the trooper told investigators.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected]. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 7 MSP officers benefited from rigged promotion exams, records show