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A Warren police officer is under investigation after being accused of posting racist comments on social media, police say.
A man, identified as a Warren police officer, allegedly made inflammatory racist comments using his personal Facebook account. A Warren resident who read the messages, Tamia Brooks, was so disturbed by what was posted that she searched online and found that the poster worked for the Warren Police Department. She immediately contacted Warren’s police to inform them of the situation.
“I wanted to know where he was working just to let them know what kind of person they were working for them,” Brooks said. “As soon as I searched for his name I found an article about a dispute he had last year that went to court so I knew he had a record so I called the police to let them know who he was and what he said. “
Police Commissioner William Dwyer said the officer was placed on administrative leave while an investigation was underway.
“The Warren Police Department does not condone the use of racist comments by employees, whether on or off duty,” Dwyer said in a statement. “Statements like this erode the confidence of civilians in the police service and are not tolerated.”
Brooks said she sent a screenshot of the comments to the Police Commissioner, who responded immediately. Warren Police Internal Affairs has asked her to submit a written statement, which she plans to do on Tuesday afternoon. She said she was also due to meet with Lt. James Wolfe of the Internal Affairs Department at this time.
According to Brooks, the comments included allegations that all blacks are racist; that black men do not take care of their children; that the Black on Black crime is irreparable; and that he was glad he hadn’t been born black or he would kill himself. The original post was a report about a person being kicked out of a plane that made an emergency landing in Detroit.
“The person I was originally speaking to on the Facebook post agreed that while we disagreed on the post, neither of us really knew enough about the situation to discuss it,” he said. Brooks said. “Then he jumped up and he was already on 10 when he jumped into the conversation and responded with it all. I just had to do something about it.”
Dwyer released a statement Tuesday morning on the matter.
Dwyers’ statement said: This incident involves alleged comments posted to Facebook by an officer on leave using his personal Facebook profile. After being made aware of the allegation, the Warren Police Department immediately launched an internal investigation and placed the officer on administrative leave. The Warren Police Department does not condone the use of racist comments by employees, whether on or off duty. Statements like this erode the confidence of civilians in the police service and are not tolerated. This allegation is serious and will be fully investigated in accordance with Warren Police Department procedures and the officers’ collective agreement. The alleged views expressed by the officer do not reflect the mission, goals and philosophy of the Warren Police Department and in no way reflect the views of the more than 200 members of the Warren Police Department.
Check back to MacombDaily.com for updates on this report.
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