Last week,
Officer Gary Steele and another officer pulled over 23-year old,
Ariel Moore — who is African American — for having an expired license plate. The officers discovered she was also driving without insurance. They told her they had to impound her car and gave her the option of a police escort which she refused, choosing to walk home in the freezing cold alone.
Instead of following her to make sure she got home safely or continuing on their way, Steele decided to film what he called was Ariel's "Walk of shame" and post it on Snapchat. He decorated the video with pre-made Snapchat stickers that said "What black girl magic looks like" and "Celebrating black history month" and then uploaded the video to publicly mock her.
Steele's racist post could have potentially been seen by thousands of people ,and while he was using the clip to get likes, other Snapchat users gave the video a thumbs down.
Now, Officer Steele has been demoted and is under investigation for his behavior but should he be allowed to keep his job in the first place? In a city like Detroit, where the police department already has a tense relationship with the black community, Officer Steele's actions degrade the black community's trust even further in Detroit PD.
What's more is that this isn't the first time Officer Steele — an 18-year-veteran — has been in trouble. In 2008 the officer physically attacked his ex-girlfriend and fired a gun next to her head. For that egregious crime, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor but was allowed to keep his job.
Steele is obviously not a good officer or person and should not be allowed to carry a gun or a badge.
Please sign the petition and tell Detroit Police Chief James Craig to get this bad officer off the force. Tell him that Steele must be fired.