Five Grosse Pointe Park police officers suspended for videos of mentally challenged man

GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI -- How long they will be suspended and whether they'll be paid while suspended is unclear.
Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Director David A. Hiller confirmed that five of the department's 36 police officers will be suspended between 24 hours and 60 days, although he would provide no further details.
The punishments come after a week-long investigation into the origin and disbursement of several videos taken of Michael Scipio, 55, a mentally challenged Grosse Pointe Park resident. Hiller said the videos were recorded in March of 2012 and all of the officers involved worked on the same shift.
All of the officers either received, sent or were aware of the recordings.
That shift has now been "entirely re-alligned," said Hiller. "We broke up everything."
"The fact that mentally-challenged individual, no matter what color creed or what religion... was videotaped for non-law-enforcement reasons, personal vices, by officers of this department is totally unacceptable..." said Hiller.
Videos taken by an officer and forwarded to Motor City Muckraker, the media outlet that released the footage, depict Scipio being asked to sing his song.
Scipio proceeds to string together nonsensical chants and make odd noises, which were forwarded via text message between officers and their friends. One of the officers ex-wives leaked the messages to Motor City Muckraker.
Minister Malik Shabazz, founder of the New Marcus Garvey Movement, called the press conference a "pep rally" that was "not in the spirit" of the closed door meeting he had with Hiller after a protest last week.
"An African-American man was humiliated," Shabazz said. "It's a whitewash... The officers are wrong... I'm not satisfied."
City officials invited four black residents of Grosse Pointe Park to illustrate the diversity that exists in Grosse Pointe Park, which according to the 2010 U.S. Census is 10.5 percent black and 85 percent white. The black residents spoke highly of the police department.
The Grosse Pointe Police Department has no black officers and one female.
"I pride the fact that in the years since I've been here we might get two complaints per year," said Hiller, whose been with the department since 2001. "I don't know that I can ever change the belief that Grosse Pointe is writing tickets because 'you're black on Mack' but that's not the case."
Hiller said in addition to punishment, the entire department will undergo sensitivity training. Hiller did not know how much the training would cost taxpayers.
"Those are not the things we worry about right now," he said. "We want to make sure things are done properly."
Hiller didn't know how much taxpayers are paying for the services of Greg Bowens, a contracted pubic relations professional from Grosse Pointe Park whom the city hired after news of the videos broke.
Marsha Fairrow, pastor for Higher Grounds Ministries located on the corner of Mack and Nottingham, was among those who spoke on behalf of the police department. She said she knows Scipio well. He and others often hang out on the corner near her church and she's called police several times when Scipio has become "belligerent."
She says police have always treated Scipio "very kind" and "humane."
Fairrow said she doubts the videos were taken with malice.
"On several ocassions he's come in and said, 'Do you want to hear the birds tweet?' and he made noises," she said. "That's Michael." He "says funny things."