DETROIT (WXYZ) — Two officers with the Detroit Police Department are facing charges in two separate incidents off duty that happened late last week.
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Detroit Police Department Chief James White said the officers were charged with criminal sexual conduct and felonious assault, respectively, and have been charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
The incidents happened outside of the city of Detroit.
Both officers have been suspended with pay effective immediately. White said he plans to recommend their suspensions be unpaid at the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting scheduled for Thursday.
White said an officer, identified as a man on the job for five years, was charged with criminal sexual conduct after being arrested on July 27 in Woodhaven. White said he could not release many details to the public at the time due to the sensitivity of the case, to protect the victim and not compromise the investigation.
The victim in the case is a woman. Police said there is no further threat to the public.
Then on July 29 in Madison Heights, a woman who has been on the job for 26 years, brandished a weapon during a road rage incident. White said she's a corporal with the department.
Police said no shots were fired and there was no physical altercation.
"These independent off-duty acts are not representative of the hard working men and women of our department," White said. "The alleged conduct is certainly disturbing. We are held to a higher standard, plain and simple, and these allegations mare certainly disturbing."
White said DPD is committed to transparency and that he wanted the department to be the ones to announce the incident to the community.
"We are committed, as you know, to transparency in our agency and we want to maintain that transparency with our community," White said. "Wearing a badge is an absolute privilege, it is not a right and these two officers — at least preliminarily — did not uphold that privilege to wear the badge at this time."
