Inkster police chief, leaders vow justice in beating
A day after video of a Detroit man getting pounded upon and Tasered by Inkster police went viral, city officials and local religious leaders told the community they're pursuing justice.
And the former police chief who resigned last summer wants the department to be dissolved.
A news conference at Inkster City Hall on Thursday morning was intended to show unity between community leaders and city officials in the wake of public outrage over the video of a Jan. 28 traffic stop.
"We started this investigation. We're not hiding from it," Inkster Police Chief Vicki Yost said Thursday regarding the incident. She said she ordered an investigation immediately after learning that the man was hospitalized; an independent investigation by Michigan State Police is underway.
Floyd Dent, 57, a longtime auto worker with no criminal history, on Wednesday told media that police beat him for no reason and planted cocaine on him during his arrest after a traffic stop near South River Park Drive and Inkster Drive shortly before 10 p.m. He was initially charged with assault, resisting arrest and possession of cocaine, but a judge who saw the video later dropped the assault and resisting charges.
Yost said one officer who was involved is no longer on street patrol. She said authorities will take appropriate action after the investigation is completed. "It needs to be independent. It needs to be thorough. It needs to be impartial," she said of the investigation.
Former Police Chief Hilton Napoleon, who resigned last summer after a 3 1/2-year tenure that included internal strife and two officers' union votes of no confidence, told the Free Press on Thursday that he'd known officers who would lie under oath.
"I've had complaints of Inkster officers taking money off of people and planting drugs," he said.
"You have officers there that have questionable integrity, and they should not be wearing the badge, and they should not be out there policing people," Napoleon said, as he'd also said during his time as chief. "You can't change a person's heart. And you can't make a person do the right thing and be moral."
Napoleon, who is the brother of longtime Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, said union and administrative bureaucracy made it difficult to fire officers during his short time there.
The officer shown pummeling Dent in the head on the video, has been identified as William Melendez. He was holding him in a choke-hold as a second officer attempted to handcuff Dent behind his back. Another officer arrived and kicked Dent, and another Tasered him in the thigh and stomach as he was being handcuffed.
Dent's attorney, Gregory Rohl, said Wednesday that a close review of portions of the video not yet made public show police planting the drugs. Dent, who said he was hospitalized for two days with injuries to his face and head, is set for an April 1 hearing on the drug charge.
Rohl said he'd be meeting with city officials and Yost in April to discuss a settlement regarding the incident. He said Dent has not ruled out a civil rights lawsuit in federal court.
Police, Rohl said, targeted Dent because he is a black man. The officers involved appear to be white.
About seven people, including community leaders and Inkster officials gathered at city hall Thursday morning. Bishop Walter Starghill, president of the Western Wayne NAACP, said he and others are working with the city to make sure all residents feel comfortable living there.
Asked what he thought of the video, Starghill replied, "It did shock me. True enough." He added that he's also been shocked by videos depicting domestic violence, and that he seeks to continue making sure that Inkster residents are safe.
The Rev. Joseph Stephens, pastor of New Birth Baptist Church, said the Inkster Ministerial Alliance has been monitoring the situation since the story broke. He said Inkster doesn't have a history of these types of problems with police.
"We support the police department," he said. "We also support the citizens of the community, and we believe every citizen needs to be treated fairly."
Nearly all, if not all, the speakers encouraged people to wait for the investigation to be completed and not jump to conclusions. A protest has been planned for April 1, the day Dent is to be in court on the drug charge.
Napoleon declined to comment on individual officers' actions and said he faces pending lawsuits from some who served under him. But he also said that there are good police at the department, but a "certain group" is "really making it bad for honest officers."
He said the video's content is "very unfortunate, but it does not surprise me."
He continues to believe the only way to solve the department's problems is to dissolve it and let Wayne County take over policing operations, Napoleon said.
Free Press writer LL Brasier contributed to this report.
Contact Robert Allen at rallen@freepress.com or www.twitter.com/rallenMI