Grosse Pointe Park police.jpg

Handicapped man videotaped by Grosse Pointe Park police apparently for entertainment purposes.

(Courtesy of MotorCity Muckraker)

Grosse Pointe Park Police Department

GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI -- A set of videos obtained by reporter Steve Neavling of the MotorCity Muckraker could be detrimental to the image of the Grosse Pointe Park Police Department.

Neavling on Friday published a few of the videos that depict a black man stringing together unintelligible sentences and making strange high-pitched, animal-like noises.

"Go ahead, do your song," an off-camera voice, allegedly that of the Grosse Pointe Park police officer, is heard saying as one video commences.

Check out the videos here

The story has begun to pick up national attention as the video clips spread via social networking and YouTube.

Neavling said he's been asked to appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" but the the interview was delayed due to coverage of storms over the weekend.

According to Neavling, the demeaning videos were filmed by police using department cameras, sometimes from inside patrol cars, and shared via text messaging.'



Neavling told the Huffington Post he has about a dozen such video clips that were shared among members of the department but opted not to publish some due to their humiliating nature.

MLive was unable to reach Director of Public Safety Chief David A. Hiller or another representative from the Gross Pointe Park Police Department Monday morning for comment.

The Huffington Post published this response from Grosse Point Park Police Captain David Loch:

On Thursday, November 14 2013, the Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department was contacted by an individual who said that he was in possession of video clips and a photo of African American males. The video clips and photo are allegedly made by an officer of this department. The department has begun an internal investigation of this matter. The Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department does not tolerate unprofessional conduct by its officers when interacting with any citizen they may come in contact with.

Neavling writes that one of the officers involved exchanged text messages in which he referred to black people depicted as "the coloreds."

Grosse Pointe Park and its surrounding communities commonly referred as "the Pointes," with nearly 85 percent of its residents white, is a stark contrast to nearby Detroit, which is 82 percent black.