GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. (AP) - Leaders in a Detroit suburb promised more diversity training for police on Wednesday after an officer recorded and took responsibility for harassing a man who was chanting, singing and making unintelligible sounds.
Grosse Pointe Park’s police chief and other officials also signed a letter of understanding with the U.S. Justice Department and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to improve relations with people with disabilities. Some of the points agreed to include cultural competency and racial profiling training for police personnel.
The videos showed the man making unintelligible sounds outside the window of a car and being urged to sing a song. The man, Detroit resident Michael Scipio, told reporters after the videos surfaced that police had stopped him in the past for public intoxication.
The Detroit Free Press reported that all of Grosse Pointe Park’s police officers are white, while Scipio is black.
Five officers were suspended in November because of the videos, which one officer recorded. Other officers viewed the videos, which turned up online, but didn’t notify their bosses. The officers involved will remain on probation until late this year, according to WWJ-AM.
“We’re not going to tolerate this,” Police Chief David Hiller said. “This was a warning to us. This was a rude awakening.”
Hiller said the department also will make structural changes to address the problems surrounding the officers’ actions.
“We rearranged all of the supervisors that we involved. We reorganized all the shifts. We split up groups of guys that were getting a little too comfortable with each other,” he said.
Grosse Pointe Park is just east of Detroit.
“I am hopeful our proclamation affirming our commitment to treat all people with dignity and respect further crystalizes our support of human and civil rights for everyone,” Grosse Pointe Park Mayor Palmer Heenan said in a statement.
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