Mayor tells police to stop house visits during election

Mayor Amer Ghalib

By Charles Sercombe
Mayor Amer Ghalib is demanding that Hamtramck police officers stop going to residents’ houses in their investigations during the few days leading up to Tuesday’s August Primary Election.
The mayor made that call at a special city council meeting on Friday afternoon.
“Knocking on doors by our police department at this time is not acceptable during the election because it intimidates the people,” Ghalib said. “It scares them, and they don’t want to vote. … I don’t think there’s a need for any kind of investigation at this time. People are complaining about that.”
Ghalib continued: “So I respectfully ask our police department to stay away from any actions at this time regarding investigations or anything during the election.”
It’s unclear what investigations are being conducted and whether that involves criminal actions such as assaults, robberies, stolen vehicles and any number of other crimes that the department routinely investigates.
Hamtramck Deputy Police Chief Andy Mileski could not be reached for comment.
There are ongoing investigations by other agencies into some city councilmembers for alleged election law violations, and also if two councilmembers are even residents of the city.
There is also a possible investigation by the FBI into the police chief for alleged wrongdoing.
On top of all that, the city council hired a law firm to conduct an internal investigation into alleged wrongdoing by the police chief, a police investigator and the city manager – all of whom are on paid administrative leave.
Several law enforcement officials who spoke to The Review on the condition that their name not be published said that Ghalib’s comment borders on obstruction of justice.
Posted Aug. 2, 2025