We see it time and time again. A white officer flexing his power to cause humiliation and/or harm to a black person. It is always caught on camera but yet in still, the officer faces little to no consequences for their actions. In today’s edition of Surviving While Black, a white Detroit police officer, has been demoted after he impounded her car, and posted Snap Chat videos with racist comments while she walked home in the snow.
According to CBS News, Officer Greg Steele and another officer pulled over a woman identified as Ariel Moore on Tuesday for having an expired registration. They impounded her car and she walked away after turning down an offer to be escorted home. Things went left when Steele pulled out his cellphone to record Moore walking home on SnapChat in below-freezing temperatures with the captions, “Celebrating Black History Month” and “What black girl magic looks like.”
The officers can be heard commenting back and forth, “Priceless,” “Walk of shame,” “In the cold,” and “Bye, Felicia.”
In a statement, Police Chief James Craig said, “I’m not going to tell you I’m troubled, I’m going to tell you I’m angry. And I’m going to tell you why I’m angry — I’m angry because this was a racially insensitive post.”
Craig said his department launched an internal investigation that could result in anything from a written reprimand to suspension to termination. While the investigation is going on Stelle has been demoted from the rank of corporal and re-assigned from his precinct.
Moore and her mother Monique Mobley are still and disbelief that this act of racism happened to Moore.
“I’ve never had this happen to me in my life, so I’m kind of shocked,” the young woman told the station.
“What they put on there, that’s racist,” Mobley told WXYZ “They demeaned my child for no reason.”
Craig said he has spoken to Mobley on the phone and apologized. He said the department will pay the fees associated with the towing and impoundment.
Craig also addressed Steele having a troubled past, WXYZ reports the officer was charged in 2008 with physically attacking his ex-girlfriend in Canton and firing a gun near her head. He reportedly took a plea deal on a misdemeanor, received probation and was allowed to stay on the force.
“I think after reviewing his history, there’s a pattern there, and I’m concerned about that pattern,” Craig said. “That’s something I’ll be looking into and addressing as well.”
What do you think should happen to Steele?
