State Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden) questioned Michigan State Police Director Colonel James Grady today during his testimony at a joint committee meeting of the House Oversight Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Michigan State Police, which Mueller chairs. The committee hearing comes just weeks after the Michigan State Police Troopers Association issued a vote of no confidence where troopers voted over 98% non-confidence in Grady’s leadership. Over 75% of troopers participated in the vote.

Mueller asked Grady a variety of key questions, including his opinion on recently discovered employee engagement survey results, reported retaliation against troopers who spoke up about abuses in leadership, and the circumstances regarding the promotion of Grady’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Brimacombe.

“Right now, our troopers have record-low morale and record-low confidence in their leadership,” Mueller said. “This is a major problem and Col. Grady showed little to no remorse for the dissatisfaction and despair felt by the troopers he is supposed to be sticking up for. Rather than addressing our concerns, he brought in pre-scripted political answers and made ambiguous statements about the morale within the department.”

Grady was questioned in-depth about his selection of Brimacombe. Grady promoted her four ranks from first lieutenant to lieutenant colonel when he selected her for the job in December of 2023. Brimacombe had a lengthy disciplinary record and was coming off a probationary period just four days before she was promoted. Grady admitted in his testimony that he knew she had never supervised troopers before her promotion to the number two job but that he had the authority to promote anyone and that there was precedent for climbing more than one rank at a time in the department. Additionally, he then gave her a nearly $10,000 performance bonus only four months into her tenure as lieutenant colonel, which had never been done before, as policy states an individual needs to be in their position for at least a year to be eligible for a bonus. Grady circumvented this policy and did it anyway.

“Just because Col. Grady had the authority to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do,” Mueller said. “A key character trait in a good leader is knowing when to exercise their authority and when to show restraint. The ability to tell right from wrong. Clearly it was wrong to promote a trooper with a shady disciplinary record, who had never supervised troopers, to the second most powerful spot in the state police. If the two of them want to make things right, then they should resign now so this agency can begin its process of healing and rebuilding.”

Grady expressed doubts about the employee engagement survey, insinuating that because it was anonymous and answers between responses were similar, that it was possibly tampered with or fabricated.

“The results of the survey and the vote of no confidence speak for themselves,” said Mueller. “It really shows the lack of accountability in his leadership when Col. Grady decided to deny the results and feedback his troopers provided to him. The answers and experiences weren’t similar because it was fabricated, they were similar because there is a trend and a common pattern of how his leadership mistreats the brave men and women of the Michigan State Police. We continue to receive new information and new reports every day and we’re going to keep shedding light on it and pushing for accountability until our troopers are treated right and satisfied with their leadership. They deserve to know that we’ve got their backs and we’re going to keep pressing until this problem is dealt with.”

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