Whistleblower Cop Says Sergeant Released Suspect in Exchange For Blowjob

by Asa Jay
Police State Daily
Jan. 20, 2016

A Michigan cop, who works part time with the River Rouge police department, is claiming as part of a federal lawsuit that an unidentified sergeant released a suspect without arrest or citation in exchange for oral sex.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court last week by officer Dennis Whittie, names the city of River Rouge and former Police Chief Jeffery Harris.

Along with the blowjob allegations, it accuses Harris of being drunk on the job, officers of posting racist comments on Facebook, and the department of Occupation Safety and Health violations – which it was ultimately fined for.

Whittie, who began filing complaints back in 2013, says he was passed over for promotions and had his whistleblower rights violated for repeatedly bringing up issues with his superiors.

According to the lawsuit, Whittie spoke to the city’s mayor and others about how he believed Harris was intoxicated while on duty at the River Rouge Labor Day Festival.

Harris was still police chief at the time and Whittie says he faced reprisal from the department when he was not recommended for a full time position at the end of 2013.

“Despite the fact that the Plaintiff was the most qualified part-time officer to fill the position based on his credentials and the recommendations of the sergeants interviewing the candidates for the position, [Harris] recommended… that another less qualified part-time officer be selected,” the suit claims.

Another full-time position opened up in the department in October 2015 and Whittie was again passed over by Price, the lawsuit says, “due in significant part to [his] speech, conduct, and/or expression on matters of a public concern.”

In reference to the accusation of being drunk on duty, a motion for summary judgment filed last April by attorneys for Harris said the Chief “admits he was in the beer tent, but that he was not on duty, was in plain clothes without a gun or badge, and that he had beer.”

Whittie’s lawsuit also claims that he told Price that one of his sergeants received oral sex “while on duty, in exchange for an arrest not being made or a citation not being issued” – to which the Chief responded that he knew what was going on but that he wasn’t going to say anything about it.

According to court records, a judge has already dismissed the whistleblower violation claims in the suit and a trial has been set for May. Whittie is seeking $75,000 or more in damages.

The suit says that Whittie has “cooperated with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in its investigation of issues,” but prosecutors say that they are not currently involved in any type of investigation in River Rouge.