Detroit police car. Image courtesy of DeadlineDetroit.com
A Detroit police officer is being investigated after posting inflammatory comments on social media in which he called city residents “garbage” and boasted about how he used to assault them.
Officer Daniel Wolff made the remarks on Tuesday in response to a story by the Motor City Muckracker newspaper on the record number of Detroit police who moved outside the city after the state government outlawed residency requirements for municipal workers in 1999, the independent publication reported.
“I wasn’t making any judgment on whether police should live in or outside the city,” Steve Neavling, the author of the article, told Fox 2 News. “I was just looking at the impact it had on the tax dollars and whether or not police officers who live in the suburbs are able to grasp the reality Detroit residents live with every day.”
Wolff, who has worked for the Detroit Police Department for over 20 years and resides in the suburbs, commented that he wouldn’t dare live in the community he serves because it’s “just a nasty place.”
“Getting rid of residency was the best thing that ever happened to the Detroit Police!!!!! We have to police the garbage but you can’t make us live in the garbage,” the officer wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday.
He went on to complain about the use of cellphone cameras, stating “This job is not the same job that it was. It’s all videotaped or whatever. You can’t walk up to a kid or asshole and smack him in the face like we did.”
In previous Facebook posts, Wolff, who is white, allegedly made racially charged comments about comedienne Whoopi Goldberg and activist Al Sharpton. The Detroit cop said he wanted to “send a terminator (Cyberdyne series 101) back in time to take out” the celebs’ parents.
I’m tired of “politically correct cry-baby soft ass snowflakes,” Wolff wrote after some users found his comments to be racist and offensive. He then made “personal pledge” to “do my best to offend at least one person a day with a harsh comment,” the newspaper reported.
“I want to make someone cry today,” the officer said.
The Motor City Muckraker quickly alerted authorities to the concerning Facebook post(s) and sent screenshots of Wolff’s remarks to Internal Affairs. The department is currently working to conduct a full investigation into the matter, according to police spokesman Michael Woody.
When Wolff, who is an avid Trump supporter, was informed that he was under investigation by Internal Affairs, he scoffed at the threat and bragged that he had been trying to get fired for years.
Screenshot courtesy of the Motor City Muckraker.
Wolff’s offensive posts and social media profile have since been taken down.
Detroit Police Chief David Craig told Fox 2 News he was pained by the officer’s remarks and said if the accusations were found to be true, Wolff would be held accountable.
“That should not send a message to anyone that this represents Detroit police officers,” Craig said. “If this individual feels that strongly about working in the city of Detroit and has that kind of attitude, we don’t want him here.”
