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The Detroit Police Department has launched an internal investigation after a black veteran officer said he was introduced to a racial profile by a white policeman for apparently having too much money.
Christopher Williams, who has been working in the department for nearly 15 years, was among the roughly one hundred plainclothes officers at the city's police training center on June 6, who logged hours for annual needs.
Todd Perkins, Williams' attorney, told NBC News Sunday that the police officer was in possession of about $ 5,000 that his girlfriend, who is also an officer, had asked him to hold. Williams' girlfriend attended the training on June 6 and withdrew the money during her lunch break to buy money orders to pay her bills, according to Perkins.
At the end of his training day, Williams said he met a white officer in the bathroom who had seen him put money in his pockets. While Williams was leaving the training center with his girlfriend and was heading to the parking lot, he was approached by the white officer, who allegedly grabbed him, threw him against a fence and handcuffed him .
Williams said the white officer, who has been working at the department for three years, told him, "You are not supposed to have that kind of money," according to his lawyer.
After Williams' girlfriend showed the white officer his bank transfer receipt, he let Williams go, Perkins said.
Deputy Chief of Police James White said on Friday that the incident was under investigation and he "did not blame it prematurely".
"I'd like to see what happened," said White in a video posted on the ministry's Facebook page. "To say it's a racial element, I have someone in the bathroom with a very large amount of money on it and an investigation is going on to find out where you got that money." is not unreasonable for me. "
White said that the race of officers did not cause him "great concern" unless it was determined that the actions of the white officer, whose identity was not revealed, were racially motivated. He said that on June 6, a fitness center had been cut for the new training center of the training center and that people in the building were not officers.
"One of the things I would like to know is when the officer identified himself as a police officer, as our policy states – once you are engaged in a confrontation or a conversation as part of an investigation, you must identify yourself as a member of our agency, "said White.
Perkins said the white officer did not identify himself as an officer before handcuffing his client.
White also said in the video: "The second thing we would look at is that it's a big sum of money, from where does she come from, why did she?" "It's a reasonable question for someone who is in the washroom and counts the money building that is open at that time."
Perkins said that White's answer was "shameful" and that she was forcing her client to defend herself by having money.
"My client was mentally injured," said Perkins. "He's helpless, my client has to be paid, he does not want anyone to do it."
White and Perkins both said it was "ironic" that this incident occurred at the center where diversity training is among the requirements.
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