Opinion ID: 4680217
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Disciplinary Action Against Plaintiff

Text: Plaintiff was disciplined as a result of the January 22, 2017 incident and suspended for three days without pay or benefits. Plaintiff testified that on the scene, now-Commander Mark Bliss told him that if he complained about the incident there would be consequences. Plaintiff did complain to the Department that Sergeant Ballinger, Officer Blackburn, and Officer Schimeck had mistreated him during the January 22, 2017 incident. An internal affairs investigation was initiated, and Plaintiff eventually became its prime target. Sergeant Deanna Wilson, the lead internal affairs officer on the investigation, concluded “that the actions of all [officers] on scene inclusive of Officer Strickland were improper from the verbiage utilized by the responding officers to the refusal of a direct order from a law enforcement officer which perpetuated the events that followed.” (Internal Affairs Report, R. 36-7, Page ID #889.) Formally, Plaintiff was charged with three violations of the Department’s code of conduct. First, he was charged with abusing his authority and position as a police officer to obtain access to the gas station’s video of the January 22, 2017 incident. Second, he was charged with withholding information related to an ongoing investigation by failing to provide that video to the Department. Third, Plaintiff was charged with neglect of duty for failing to document his viewing of the video in his activity log. No. 19-2373 Strickland v. City of Detroit, Mich., et al. Page 6