An unnamed police officer is on restricted status in Grosse Pointe Park after admitting he took a cell phone video that has sparked an outcry.
The patrol officer directed Michael Scipio, a 55-year-old Detroiter shown above, to sing and make odd noises that he taped. A second-hand copy of the video, recorded in early 2012. was given to independent blogger Steve Neavling. He posted it Nov. 14, prompting an inquiry by the suburban force. At Motor City Muckraker, he also posted two others apparently shot by on-duty officers
Eric D. Lawrence reports fresh developments in the Free Press:
The videos have drawn condemnation and protests because they appear to have been designed to humiliate Scipio.
“An officer has stepped forward to take responsibility for the video and for interacting with Mr. Scipio in that fashion. The officer has been removed from patrol duty pending the conclusion of our investigation,” said Grosse Pointe Park spokesman Greg Bowens. He added the investigation is nearly complete. . . .
Scipio had lived in a Detroit boarding house near Grosse Pointe Park and often came in contact with Park public safety officers.
The department seeks additional videos from Neavling, which the blogger tells Lawrence he hopes to provide "as soon as possible," adding Friday night: "I am awaiting a response from my source, who must give me permission to pass on more videos. I am confident she’ll want to do that.”
The source is an officer's estranged wife, Neavling indicated earlier.
Scipio spoke briefly Wednesday at a protest by about three dozen people outside the suburban police station, where Neavling shot the photo atop this article. An earlier Free Press article quotes him as saying: “You played me like a fool. . . I knew they had it in their heart to humiliate me.”
Protesters say Scipio was targeted because he is African American. All of the department’s officers are white.
State Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, whose district includes the Grosse Pointes, calls for "immediate and direct action . . . to prevent this type of behavior." She speaks out in a six-paragraph letter published Friday by The Detroit News. An excerpt:
Using one’s position of authority to intimidate a black person is repulsive. Using that authority to the point of forcing them to have to sing or act like an animal cannot be condoned for one second.
Earlier coverage:
