Excessive force and illegal searches continue to plague Detroit Police Department

By Steve Neavling on September 24, 2012815 Comments

Not all that long ago, I was taking photos on public property of the abandoned Eastown Theater in Detroit when a black car came to a sudden stop.

The doors flung open, and three men emerged with guns drawn.

Am I getting robbed? I thought at the time. I don’t want to die – not yet. I’m not even 35.

“Put your fucking hands up,” one of the men, who was wearing a T-shirt, demanded before handcuffing me and slamming me against their car. “Don’t move. What the fuck are you doing here, moron?”

Are these cops? They never flashed a badge or identified themselves as police.

Meanwhile, two of them were rifling through my car at the corner of Harper and Van Dyke.

“Look, I’m a reporter at the Free Press,” I told the man who had bruised my arms. “I was just taking a pictures of the building. I’m not doing anything wrong.”

I was on assignment at the time, writing a story about the ubiquitous abandoned buildings that drive down property values and serve as makeshift drug dens.

“He says he’s a reporter,” the man finally said.

Only then did he identify himself as a cop. The other officers continued to rummage through my car – without probable cause or my permission.

“What are you doing – writing a story about how fucked up the police department is?” the cop grunted. “I bet you are, you little asshole. You’re all the same.”

About 10 minutes later, the thugs finally released me, presumably because I was a reporter. As they sped off, I pursued them.
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As I jotted down the license plate, they flashed interior lights and pulled over someone else. The driver, looking baffled and afraid, was tossed out of his car, handcuffed and slammed against the patrol car.

Despite my complaints to the police department, nothing happened. No call back. No justice.

Not long before that, I ended up in the emergency room after a cop threw me against a wall because I was protesting an illegally closed council meeting. Despite filing a complaint with the police department, nothing happened.

In Detroit, where the police department has been under federal watch for civil rights abuses and excessive force, an average of three residents file complaints each day, saying they were assaulted or illegally searched by rogue officers. That doesn’t account for the many residents who don’t file official complaints.

After hearing about a friend being illegally searched while doing nothing wrong, I found plenty of Detroiters who said they were manhandled and searched by overzealous police. None filed a complaint, worried they’d be retaliated against.

So it was no shock when I read in the Free Press this morning that two white officers are accused of brutally beating a black father for a minor traffic infraction. They claimed the man attacked them and threw him in jail after his hospitalization. Luckily another officer witnessed the incident and said the victim did nothing wrong and was attacked without provocation.

And there goes another lawsuit filed against the cash-strapped city, which continues to cut the police force.

According to the Free Press, the city has paid out about $28 million in cop-related lawsuits since July 2009. Those cases involve illegal searches, false arrests and excessive force.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee, who has said he is adamantly opposed to illegal searches and overzealous police tactics, can’t seem to get a handle on many of his cops.

There’s something wrong when you live in a city where the police can be more dangerous than the criminals they are hired to pursue.

Is it any wonder people distrust the police department?

Have you or anyone you know been the victim of police brutality? Email us here.

Steve Neavling is an investigative journalist and former reporter at the Detroit Free Press.

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detroit, detroit police, Excessive force, Illegal searches, police brutality, steve

Excessive force and illegal searches continue to plague Detroit Police Department added by Steve Neavling on September 24, 2012
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Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.