WESTLAND, Mich. (WXYZ) — Weeks after Westland’s police chief was sidelined following the release of old videos showing him humiliating citizens while on patrol, the city’s mayor is under fire for embarrassing videos of his own.
Mayor Michael Londeau expressed remorse Monday for a 2014 video circulating on social media. The nearly decade-old video was taken at a roast for a local radio station host, where Londeau served as emcee.
The video was taken three years before Londeau would be elected to Westland City Council, and featured a series of crude jokes referencing female genitalia, sexually transmitted diseases and other vulgar content.
“I didn’t write the script, I’m not happy about it obviously now that it’s coming out now,” Londeau said. “It was a different time in my life. It’s not representative of my character now as Mayor.”
At one point during the roast, Londeau described a man’s liver as “so shriveled, black and dead, if you put your ear to the side, you can hear it say, ‘What you looking at Willis?’— an apparent reference to Gary Coleman, an actor who died in 2010.
Londeau expressed remorse for taking part in the roast, saying he was “young and immature,” but also said the videos were only emerging now because of political rivals.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s coming out right now and folks are using it like it’s something I did last week, trying to misrepresent my character,” the mayor said.
The video emerged after police chief Jeff Jedrusik resigned after 7 Action News reporter Kim Craig first revealed twenty-year old videos showing Westland
Police officers—including Jedrusik—humiliating residents while on patrol.
Londeau said the video was in the city’s possession in February, but he didn’t watch it until recently.
“I wasn’t provided with the video at the time, (the) city attorney’s recommendation was pretty much to keep it quiet and let the civil process go through,” Londeau said, adding that he wished he had watched the videos sooner.
“Everything seems to be coming to a head now, but it’s been going on for a long time,” said Lisa Graham, a Westland resident. “That’s because in Westland, people are rewarded for this abusive behavior.”
Graham and her husband Rich are longtime Westland residents and members of Move Westland Forward, a political action committee that has worked in opposition to Londeau.
“Why are we shocked? These things have been going on for decades now,” Rich Graham said. “It’s just not the police department.”
Also on Monday, the mayor confirmed that a current Westland officer is under investigation for events that allegedly took place in Detroit on opening day.
While off-duty, the officer is accused of being drunk and belligerent in one of Detroit’s casinos, later coming into contact with Detroit police, and was asked to leave the casino.
He was not arrested and is now on leave while an internal investigation is ongoing.
