Chief Craig: Looks Like Cushingberry Got Special Treatment During Traffic Stop

**Scottathew** · January-24-14, 03:03 PM

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...e-cushingberry

DETROIT [[WXYZ) - Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Council President Pro Tem George Cushingberry, Jr. appeared to have gotten "preferential treatment" when police pulled him over earlier this month.
The officers involved in the stop called their supervisor to the scene, which is protocol when an official is involved in a traffic stop. That supervisor is Sgt. William Carter, according to sources. The internal investigation is into the actions of Sgt. Carter not the other officers.
Craig said Sgt. Carter took over the traffic stop and is to blame for failing to gather evidence after Cushingberry and his friend, Richard Clement, were pulled over after leaving a bar.
...

**Zacha341** · January-24-14, 03:30 PM

The Cushingberry joy never stops. Sounds like time for a 'mega' thread. This is going to be a long ride unless he steps down now!!

**Honky Tonk** · January-24-14, 03:39 PM

Poor Cush......

**Lowell** · January-24-14, 06:17 PM

Just a simple case of someone "knowing who the f*** somebody is" and giving the wink. Kind of like LBP's legendary ride home. Mr. Cushingberry isn't the story anymore unless he and the supervisor had interesting previous connections.

**Dan Wesson** · January-24-14, 07:50 PM

Bullet proof and teflon coated...

**Scottathew** · January-24-14, 08:06 PM

Freep picked up on this too: http://www.freep.com/article/2014012...ef-James-Craig

Police Chief James Craig said the sergeant who supervised the traffic stop of Detroit Councilman George Cushingberry Jr. had probable cause to administer a field sobriety test, saying the ongoing investigation has revealed that a half cup of alcohol was found in the car.
...

**Wesley Mouch** · January-24-14, 09:24 PM

Freep: revealed that a half cup of alcohol was found in the car.

This is very disturbing. I hate these kind of calls for resignation and drumming people out of office. But I can't see how Council can not so ask.

Detroiters have the opportunity to work with the world right now. Everyone wants to help -- so long as Detroit has changed its ways.

Tough decision politically, perhaps -- but essential.

**Zacha341** · January-24-14, 09:50 PM

^^^ Yes, driving and drinking in the car is pretty hinky, slow and just irresponsible. Who needs a drink that darn bad?

**Wesley Mouch** · January-24-14, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

^^^ Yes, driving and drinking in the car is pretty hinky, slow and just irresponsible. Who needs a drink that darn bad?

I think our limits on drinking and driving have gone a little too far... but drinking, carrying into your car, getting pulled over... is totally irresponsible for a public official. If I get a DUI -- well who cares. But President of the Council...? Proof of bad judgment. You should be trusted with public money when you act like that?

**Dan Wesson** · January-25-14, 06:36 AM

After pondering on this a while I have come to the conclusion that this zero tolerance mind set has become the norm.

I'm sure there was the good ol' fashioned warning raised by the Sgt. Carter that night. Now if the incident involved some kind of bribe or payola, that crossed the line.

How many of you have been warned by the LEO and thanked your lucky stars leaving the the scene of a transgression.

It is what Cush did afterward for public consumption...

He used that time honored ploy, admit nothing, deny everything and blame others. Not a bit of contriteness.

Stupid is as stupid does.

**Zacha341** · January-25-14, 08:13 AM

Yep. A persons 'response' usual tells the bigger picture and revealing who they are. He has indeed shown his hand in this matter.

Originally Posted by Dan Wesson

It is what Cush did afterward for public consumption...

He used that time honored ploy, admit nothing, deny everything and blame others. Not a bit of contriteness.

**401don** · January-25-14, 08:55 AM

Here in Toronto our mayor just drives around drunk and/or stoned and the cops leave him alone. Never causes a problem. We do like to videotape and make fun of him however.

**Honky Tonk** · January-25-14, 09:00 AM

"Craig said he became aware of it only because the officers who stopped Cushingberry on Jan. 7 went above their supervisor and informed a deputy chief."

Kudos to the officers involved for following through! They deserve a commendation. Keep weeding out those who aren't contributing to the positive growth of the City.

**Wheels** · January-25-14, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

"Craig said he became aware of it only because the officers who stopped Cushingberry on Jan. 7 went above their supervisor and informed a deputy chief."

Kudos to the officers involved for following through! They deserve a commendation. Keep weeding out those who aren't contributing to the positive growth of the City.

This shows respect and belief in Chief Craig and is a very good sign!

**Wesley Mouch** · January-25-14, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Dan Wesson

After pondering on this a while I have come to the conclusion that this zero tolerance mind set has become the norm.

I'm sure there was the good ol' fashioned warning raised by the Sgt. Carter that night. Now if the incident involved some kind of bribe or payola, that crossed the line.

How many of you have been warned by the LEO and thanked your lucky stars leaving the the scene of a transgression.

It is what Cush did afterward for public consumption...

He used that time honored ploy, admit nothing, deny everything and blame others. Not a bit of contriteness.

Stupid is as stupid does.

I agree 100%, but also consider that our 'zero-tolerance' policies encourage denial. If you admit anything, you've established the grounds for your expulsion. Thus, deny, deny, deny.

Cushingberry may be a problem. But so are zero-tolerance attitudes.

**Hypestyles** · January-26-14, 04:06 PM

...who was Cushingberry's opponent during his district run after the primary? just curious.

**aj3647** · January-27-14, 09:34 AM

It's odd that any cop even feels the need to provide special treatment to city council members anymore. City Council has little to no real authority since the EMF took over. So why kiss their asses? "Do you know who the fuck I am" only works as an argument if you actually have some power and authority to back it up.

**brizee** · January-27-14, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

...who was Cushingberry's opponent during his district run after the primary? just curious.

Richard Bowers

**downtownguy** · January-27-14, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

...who was Cushingberry's opponent during his district run after the primary? just curious.

Can't remember his name, but he was the third-highest vote getter. For some reason, the second highest vote getter did not appear on the ballot for the general election.

It's not my district. I only looked it up because somebody on another thread was trashing the voters for their poor decision. Turns out, the top three in the primary were not separated by many votes.

**Gannon** · January-27-14, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by aj3647

It's odd that any cop even feels the need to provide special treatment to city council members anymore. City Council has little to no real authority since the EMF took over. So why kiss their asses? "Do you know who the fuck I am" only works as an argument if you actually have some power and authority to back it up.

Why would you assume this is about POWER? It is more likely they go to 'church' together...

...worshiping at the altar of the Penthouse Lounge, perhaps?!

Too funny that the best coverage I could easily find through a search was from the Daily Mail in the UK. Needed to find the name of the bar where he had 'dinner' with his smokey friend!

Cheers!

**Wesley Mouch** · January-27-14, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by aj3647

It's odd that any cop even feels the need to provide special treatment to city council members anymore. City Council has little to no real authority since the EMF took over. So why kiss their asses? "Do you know who the fuck I am" only works as an argument if you actually have some power and authority to back it up.

I don't think this happened because the the 'cop felt' GC needed 'special' treatment. This is very likely Standard Operating Policy. Not a decision made by beat cop.

And that's the point. We don't want beat cops making these calls. Bring you boss in on difficult cases. Nothing much to see here.

You post suggests you don't understand 'power' very deeply. This has little to do with GC's power or your perceived lack thereof. It has to do with controlling the power of beat officers from abusing their authority. In a free society, the power of the police needs to be watched and limited.

**aj3647** · January-27-14, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

I don't think this happened because the the 'cop felt' GC needed 'special' treatment. This is very likely Standard Operating Policy. Not a decision made by beat cop.

Excuse me, but what exactly was "difficult" about this case? His car reeked of marijuana and he had an open container of alcohol. Seems pretty simple to me. The only thing that made this case different from any other potential DUI stop was Cushingberry's status as a Council member. Do you care to dispute that? What the hell do you think would have happened if he was just George Cushingberry, regular Joe? His ass would have been arrested for DUI, that's what would have happened.

Oh and FYI, it's not just me saying he got special treatment. Read the title of this thread. So tell me again how you're right but the Chief of Police is wrong? And then explain to me the logic in Chief Craig admitting publicly to something that makes his department look bad if it isn't true.

Cushingberry got a free pass from a DPD supervisor because he's on city council, plain and simple. If he weren't an elected official, he would have gone to jail for DUI. Now whether Cushingberry ASKED for special treatment or not is irrelevant because he received it nonetheless. And of course, the mere fact that a supervisor was called to the scene in the first place means that Cushingberry made the officers aware of his status as a City Councilman. And there's no point in doing that unless you're fishing for special treatment.

**Wesley Mouch** · January-27-14, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by aj3647

Excuse me, but what exactly was "difficult" about this case? His car reeked of marijuana and he had an open container of alcohol. Seems pretty simple to me. The only thing that made this case different from any other potential DUI stop was Cushingberry's status as a Council member. Do you care to dispute that? What the hell do you think would have happened if he was just George Cushingberry, regular Joe? His ass would have been arrested for DUI, that's what would have happened.

Oh and FYI, it's not just me saying he got special treatment. Read the title of this thread. So tell me again how you're right but the Chief of Police is wrong? And then explain to me the logic in Chief Craig admitting publicly to something that makes his department look bad if it isn't true.

Cushingberry got a free pass from a DPD supervisor because he's on city council, plain and simple. If he weren't an elected official, he would have gone to jail for DUI. Now whether Cushingberry ASKED for special treatment or not is irrelevant because he received it nonetheless. And of course, the mere fact that a supervisor was called to the scene in the first place means that Cushingberry made the officers aware of his status as a City Councilman. And there's no point in doing that unless you're fishing for special treatment.

I agree with you that the results of this process appear to reek of favoritism and inappropriate leniency. The process appears to have failed.

The process of having a supervisor notified when you pull over a political figure is not unreasonable. That process I believe is necessary and appropriate. Political figures bring political issues to the table. That's not something a beat officer should be making decisions about.

I don't like that he was let off. But I like the process of higher-level review. It just failed us in this case. Oh well. Better that than beat cops arresting political figures they don't like and concocting stories about what they saw/smelled/thought.

It is 100% appropriate for supervisors to be brought in. This has NOTHING to do with what the officer thought, felt, saw, heard, smelled, felt, considered, imagined, or was told to find.

All politicians need to be handled carefully by all police agencies. GC, Brooks Patterson, Nancy Pelosi, and Mike Rogers alike. Good process helps protect us. Sometimes it fails. And like our judicial system, failures are unfortunate. But I'd rather let a few criminals go than convict the innocent.