4 Romulus Police Officers Suspended

ROMULUS (WWJ) - Four Romulus police officers have been suspended without pay for 30 days for "conduct unbecoming of an officer" in connection with their roles in an undercover operation.

New Chief of Police Robert Dickerson took the action against the officers saying they overstepped their authority

In a statement, Romulus Mayor Alan Lambert said  the suspensions stemmed from the city's own internal investigation that was initiated after reviewing an inquiry into Romulus police matters by the State Police..

"While cooperating with the State Police, we discovered some documents that showed our officers participated in some questionable behavior," Mayor Lambert said. "I continued to have concerns about the officers' behavior because the specific conduct that was alleged to have occurred by these officers still appeared to me to be both inappropriate and possibly illegal."

"One of the first things I tasked the new chief was to review and investigate this highly unusual situation so I could gain some perspective. He agreed the actions were inappropriate and we took it upon ourselves to discipline the officers," he said.

Chief Dickerson expressed disappointment with the former chief for his lack of oversight in this matter.

"Unfortunately, the four suspended police officers reported directly to the former chief on all of their investigations and, by doing so, received minimal supervision and direction," Chief Dickerson said. "However, that didn't give them the right to engage in this manner."

The names of the officers have not been released.