(WWJ) Local activists are demanding change in the wake of a confrontation and arrest involving a white police officer and a black Amazon driver in Warren.
Reverend Charles Williams II, Chairman of the National Action Network in Michigan, and others met with Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer to discuss reform on Friday.
WWJ’s Jon Hewett said both sides called the meeting “positive.”
“We’re optimistic that the city of Warren and the chief want to do the right thing. Whether they’re doing the right thing in the administration and whether that’s traveling down to their officers, that’s another question,” Williams said.
Increased sensitivity training and hiring more black officers to the Warren Police Department were among the solutions discussed.
The driver, 23, had parked his truck illegally, facing the wrong direction of the street; according to Dwyer. It happened on Tuesday afternoon.
Dwyer told WWJ’s Charlie Langton the officer asked for the man’s driver’s license nearly a dozen times before an argument ensued.
When the driver refused, the officer handcuffed and arrested him; according to Dwyer. Cellphone video shows the officer on top of the man, on the ground.
To learn more about the incident and to see dash cam video, click here.
No injuries were reported. Dwyer said he did not think any excessive force was used.
However, Williams demanded the officer involved be fired. He is currently on paid Administrative Leave.
“The way we’re doing policing today is not going to fly,” Williams said. “You don’t get second, third and fourth chances when you have the lives of many, many people in your hands.”
Williams said “swift and quick” action is paramount.
The driver is out on personal bond. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office declined to file charges against him.
Commissioner Dwyer said he has handed the investigation over to the Macomb County Sheriff.