Detroit Cop Accused of Calling Residents ‘Garbage’: Reports

DETROIT, MI — A Detroit police officer who allegedly called Detroiters “garbage” in response to a news story about cops who live in the suburbs is under investigation, according to media reports. A local watchdog group says Officer Daniel Wollf’s remarks, which allegedly included bragging about assaulting residents, rise to the level of “hate speech” and he should be fired.

Wolff allegedly made the comments in a response to a story written by Motor City Muckraker reporter Steve Neavling on the increase in suburb-dwelling police personnel. Wolff reportedly linked to the story on his now disabled Facebook page and commented that a state ban on municipal residency requirements was “the best thing that ever happened to police.”

“We have to police the garbage,” Wolff allegedly posted, “but you can’t make us live in the garbage.”

The garbage comment was one of several inflammatory statements published by the Muckraker in its followup story. Wolff, a 20-year veteran of the police department, also allegedly said that ubiquitous cellphone video cameras make it risky for police to approach “a kid or a------ and smack him in the face like we did.”

Wolff, who is white, allegedly wrote that he wished he could travel back in time so he could “take out” the parents of black civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton and Whoopi Goldberg, a black actress, author, talk show host and political activist.

In response to a comment that the remarks sounded racist, Wolff allegedly wrote: “Don’t matter anyways, your Chaldean a-- will be deported soon enough.” He reportedly called the man who commented a “little girl” and said he “should die.”

Neavling took screenshots of the Facebook comments and shared them with Detroit police. Police Officer Michael Woody, the director of the Detroit Police Department’s public information office, said the information was forwarded to the internal affairs division for a full investigation.

“This is not representative of the vast majority of our officers in this department, who work hard every day to build relationships with members of our community,” Woody told The Detroit News.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said he was “deeply — emphasis on deeply — troubled” by the alleged comments and told The Detroit News they could point to criminal wrongdoing, but it will be a “challenge” to prove.

“But we are going to explore all of it,” he said.

In a news release, the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality said Wolff should be fired.

"We must have zero tolerance for those officers who openly cast aspersions on those whom they are called to protect and serve, no matter who they are,” coalition spokesman Kenneth Reed said. “This is clearly hate speech, and it should never come out of the mouth of a law enforcement officer.”

Wolff is currently on leave following an unspecified on-duty injury, Craig said.

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