A state agency permanently bans three Macomb Police Academy instructors from teaching law enforcement recruits in Michigan after multiple students said they saw the men behave inappropriately with recruits.
The academy at Macomb Community College in Warren is suspending a fourth instructor until he completes sexual harassment training, The Macomb Daily reports.
The claims were made during routine interviews between graduate recruits and the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards.
The paper reports Glenn Bowles was dismissed for allegedly using excessive force and hitting male students in the groin without warning during training, according to 25 recruits. Additionally, 15 recruits say Bowles touched and/or tickled trainees inappropriately, and made sexual comments that made students uncomfortable.
Bowles was also accused of almost exclusively selecting women to role play search subjects during pat-down demonstration. Male recruits always performed the search, the respondents said.
Additionally, Bowles allegedly asked female recruits to perform the search demonstration on him, which some found inappropriate.
He denied wrongdoing, saying the tickling and hits to the groin were distraction tactics intended to better train recruits.
(Photo: Macomb Commuity College)
Three other faculty members were banned or will face discipline:
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Emergency operating instructor Robert Swanson was dismissed after as many as five students alleged he made inappropriate comments about female students, the commission report alleges. He made several sexual comments about one female student to his male recruits, and instructed his class to keep the comments a secret.
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Emergency operating instructor David Taylor appeared to take a liking to one female recruit, she told the state commission. These allegations got him dismissed. While they were alone in a police vehicle during training, he asked if she was single and what her living situation was, she alleges.
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An instructor who admitted to making sexual innuendos during trainings will be permitted to return to work. The commission team found he was “honest and forthcoming,” and is allowing his return to instructing after sexual harassment training.
