CANTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — The misconduct committed by officer Joseph Ashley was deemed “outrageous” by his department, forced a prosecutor’s office to stop pursuing a case against a suspect and cost the officer his badge.
Just not for very long.
As an officer with Canton Township, Joseph Ashley wasn’t a stranger to wrongdoing. Three times in three years, he’d been found to have engaged “in conduct that caused high risk for the public.”
Twice, he failed to turn on his emergency equipment while speeding or disregarding traffic control devices and, in another case, continued a vehicle pursuit even after his supervisor ended it.
But it was what Ashley did on a night in August of 2022 that would trigger his firing. It was misconduct that Canton Police worked to conceal from public view, only agreeing to release the body camera video from that night to 7 News if they could blur all of it.
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When they provided a copy of their investigation into Ashley’s misconduct, much of it had been redacted.
That night, officer Ashley and his partner pulled over a female driver who they said struggled to stay in her lane. They suspected she was drunk and performed a field sobriety test.
VIDEO: Watch bodycam from the August 2022 traffic stop:
While a breathalyzer test showed the woman had been drinking, at a .05, it was below the legal limit. She would be allowed to leave the scene, but wouldn’t get off scot-free.
Officers gave her two citations for her driving that came with a court date, where she’d face possible fines and points on her license. She could see one or both of the officers again in court.
On body cam, part of officer Ashley’s conversation with the woman can be heard. At one point, he tells the woman: “We don’t care if you drink or not, and that’s totally fine.”
Later, he says: “It’s not my business how much you drink, or whatever, alright? If you do.”
But seconds later, the audio stops. Not long after that, Ashley’s body camera shuts off entirely. We don’t know what was said after that.
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Tom Berry is a retired Detroit Police Lieutenant who reviewed Canton Township's investigation into officer Ashley for 7 News Detroit.
“Why would you ever turn your body camera off?” Berry asked. “There’s no reason to turn it off. Give her the tickets, get on your way, go to your next police run.”
That didn’t happen here.
While the woman was free to leave, it wasn’t long before she received a phone call from Ashley after he and his partner realized they never returned her license.
After that, according to a Canton Police investigation, the two began exchanging texts.
We can’t see what was said because Canton Police redacted all of the messages. But the department found that Ashley “engaged in…sexually overt texting” with the woman.
According to an arbitrator’s review of the stop, he made “several offers…to stop by” the woman’s home.
Ashley said the female driver was a willing participant in the sexual messages, and in arbitration pleadings, said she would tell Canton investigators she “wanted to see how far this man was going to go.”
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She got her answer when Ashley texted her a photo of his penis—a source confirms—along with the message: “LOL. please delete."
Those messages, like all exchanged between Ashley and the woman, were redacted by Canton officials.
Two days later, Officer Ashley would text the woman again, only this time she shut him down: “Please stop texting,” she wrote. He complied.
After that, Ashley told 7 News that he deleted all of his texts with the woman. He said it wasn't because he’d done anything wrong, but out of respect for her.
She would admit to deleting some of her texts, but shared the rest with Canton police.
Tom Berry, the retired lieutenant with DPD, said a stop like this creates an inherent power dynamic between an officer and a citizen, especially one facing pending citations.
“He had the authority over her, in my opinion, and she didn’t know what do,” Berry said.
“She doesn’t want to pay the tickets, her insurance is going to go up a thousand bucks. All those things are probably running through her mind, and this guy’s trying to get a date! It’s wrong.”
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When the prosecutor learned about Ashley’s texts, the citations against the driver were dismissed. Canton Twp. fired Ashley, calling his behavior “outrageous.”
He would appeal his termination to an arbitrator, who ruled that “Ashley deliberately turned off his camera” during the encounter, calling it “strongly suggestive” he was “hoping to ‘cash in on’ the encounter.”
Ashley denies this. The arbitrator upheld his firing.
“When you’re a policeman, you don’t get that second chance because you’re held to a higher standard,” Berry said.
Or maybe you do. Just three months after Ashley’s firing in Canton was upheld, he was hired by Dundee Police, where he works today.
Randy Sehl is Dundee’s acting police chief and hired Ashley last year. He would not agree to an interview with 7 News Detroit.
Reporter Ross Jones approached Sehl at a recent public meeting.
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“Why would you hire a police officer who sent a picture of his penis to a woman that he just pulled over?” Jones asked.
“I can’t comment,” Sehl replied.
Sehl said the department performed a complete background check on Ashley, but he and township officials said they were not aware that Ashley had been found to have turned off his body camera during the stop with the woman.
Ashley would not agree to an interview with 7 News, but by phone said he believed he was set-up by the woman. He said that she initiated their sexual conversation, which he said was entirely consensual, and that it happened off-duty.
He said he turned off his body camera because he thought the stop was over, not to cover anything up.
And he said he regrets his decisions, saying in part: “I have…become a better human because of this experience. There is a lot of evil in this world and I certainly learned from it.’
“People deserve second chances, people make mistakes in their live,” said Mike Hoffmeister, Dundee’s village manager.
“I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life and I believe everyone deserves a second chance.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.