By George Hunter
The Detroit News
DETROIT ― After threatening to fire two Detroit Police Officers for cooperating with federal immigration authorities during traffic stops, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said Friday that he’d changed his mind.
The decision came a day after the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners voted 10-0 to approve Bettison’s recommendation to place Sgt. Denise Wallet and Officer James Corsi on administrative leave for 30 days. The suspended officers will not receive pay during the suspensions but will continue to receive benefits.
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Also Thursday, Wallet’s attorney filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, claiming she hadn’t violated Detroit Police policy, and seeking to prevent her firing. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall also told reporters that firing officers for working with federal immigration agents could prompt a review of whether DPD’s policies conflict with House rules that prohibit earmarks for sanctuary cities.
Bettison had already suspended the officers with pay after learning of the two incidents. He said Friday he was satisfied with the police board’s decision to suspend the officers without pay, and that he would not fire them.
“Last night the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners took an extraordinary step to unanimously vote to suspend without pay for 30 days the two DPD officers who violated longstanding departmental policy,” Bettison said in a statement. “Policies are meant to provide structure and limits for officers to protect them and citizens alike. When policies are not followed, whether in this matter or DPD’s no-pursuit policy, it puts the community at risk.
“I support the actions of the board as the ultimate discipline for these officers,” Bettison said. “The Board had the opportunity to review all the video and consider all the facts and circumstances in their decision. The role of the Board is to serve as an oversight body and a check and balance for the police department and I fully respect its role.”
“Therefore, I am satisfied with the Board’s decision and I will not be pursuing termination of these two officers,” the chief said. “This incident should make it clear, however, that as Chief, I will continue to vigorously enforce DPD’s policies.”
Wallet’s attorney Solomon Radner said Friday his client didn’t violate any policies.
“We appreciate that (the chief isn’t firing Wallet), but now he needs to rescind the suspension,” Radner said. “There’s no basis for it; and if there is a basis for it, I’d like the chief to answer one question: Which policy did she violate?”
According to Wallet’s lawsuit, the suspensions stem from a Feb. 9 traffic stop, after an officer requested her help because the officer could not identify a motorist who had provided a fake driver’s license.
When Wallet, a 27-year veteran, was unable to identify the driver with a fingerprint scanner, her lieutenant told her to call Border Patrol, the lawsuit claims. Border Patrol arrived and took the motorist, who was in the U.S. illegally, into custody, according to the lawsuit and police.
Corsi joined the department in 2015, according to a 2024 edition of Tuebor, a publication by the Detroit Police Officers Association. In 2023, he was named the District 3 Officer of the Year.
Bettison said that on Dec. 16, the officer contacted Border Patrol during a Dec. 16 traffic stop while investigating a person for a felony warrant. Agents arrived and detained the suspect, police said.
Detroit News staff writers Max Reinhart and Beth LeBlanc contributed.
ghunter@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2134
@GeorgeHunter_DN
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