Black Detroit police officer: I was profiled by white cop for having large sum of cash

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit police are investigating after one of its officers a black, 15-year veteran was roughed up and handcuffed by a young white cop.

You could call it the burden of being black while blue. Detroit Police Officer Chris Williams did not want us to show his face, still carrying the shame he says of being profiled, manhandled and handcuffed by a young, white, fellow officer.

His crime? Having cash - and a lot of it.

"I said what the f are you doing," Williams said. "I was confused. He's like, 'You're not supposed to have this much money on you.'"

It happened at the Detroit Police Department Training Center on June 6th as about 100 plain clothes cops were logging hours to meet yearly training benchmarks.

Williams says the officer in question saw him shoving the money in his pocket while in the bathroom - and as he and his girlfriend left for the day, the confrontation took place.

"He was yelling," Williams said. "I look back and he's running, and I'm like we must have forgotten to sign out. I am walking back and he grabbed my wrist, with his hand around me.

"He yelled, 'Come on' and I said what are you doing. I didn't know what was going on until he put me in cuffs."

All of it happened Williams says, in front of other police at the training center.

"Everybody saw it, so that is embarrassing and humiliating," Williams said.

Officer Williams' lawyer, Todd Perkins, wants Detroit police to take action.

"This is how he was treated by an individual who has only 20 percent of time on the job this man has," Perkins said. "He throws him up against the fence, without probably cause, and places him in handcuffs. How dare he.

"In 2019 that should make you afraid. This is an individual who is policing the streets of a predominately African-American city, he should not be on the streets."

Assistant Police Chief James White says the incident is under investigation.

"To say that there is a racial component, I've got someone in the bathroom with a very large sum of money - and inquiries to where he got the money," White said. "It's not unreasonable to me.

"One of the things I would be trying to find out is, at what point did the officer identify himself as a police officer. Because it is required by our policy. The second thing we would look at is, the large sum of money. Where did it come from, why did he have it?”

Officer Williams says his girlfriend, who is also a cop and was also at the training center, had him hold onto some of the cash she withdrew during their lunch break, to pay off some debts and medical bills.

Williams says she had the money readily available because she just sold her house.

White says it is possible the younger officer did not know Officer Williams was a cop. That is something they are also looking into.