Their prank must seem far less amusing now to suburban five cops hit with penalties that hurt their incomes and potentially their careers.  

Unpaid suspensions lasting as long as two months are the punishment for five Grosse Pointe Park officers involved in the on-duty videotaping of a mentally impaired man who was made to perform for their amusement, Charles E. Ramirez reports Wednesday in The Detroit News. 

“They will be suspended without pay for up to 60 days and they’ll be on probation for one year,” Police Chief Dave Hiller said Wednesday.

Hiller made the remarks at a media conference at St. Ambrose Catholic Church.

The videos surfaced earlier this month and show an officer asking a man to sing and make odd noises.

That officer, who had already been restricted to desk duty, and other wrongdoers being disciplined weren't named.

All officers will receive sensitivity training, the force announced earlier.

Steve Neavling, a blogger who brought the video to the department's attention Nov. 14 and led to wider media coverage, tells Deadline Detroit that Wednesday's discipline "shows that independent journalism can still make a positive difference."

Neavling, founder of Motor City Muckraker, adds via email: "Michael Scipio now has a voice and hopefully will never again be humiliated by men with guns and badges."   

Wednesday morning article:

The hammer comes down this afternoon on Grosse Pointe Park Police officers involved in a prankish cell phone video that sparked outrage, international news coverage and embarrassed their force and community.

Investigators discovered that more than one officer was involved, city spokesman and resident Greg Bowens is quoted by the Free Press as saying.

“The city’s going to release findings and disciplinary actions taken as a result, and reforms being pursued as a result,” Bowens said. 

A 2 p.m. announcement is scheduled at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, 15020 Hampton in the suburb,

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Michael Scipio, a 55-year-old Detroiter, feels police in the suburb "had it in their heart to humiliate me." (Photo by Steve Neavling)

The internal inquiry began after Motor City Muckraker, a blog started by former Free Press writrer Steve Neavling, posted a video Nov. 14 that reportedly shows one or more officers directing an African American man to sing, dance and make strange noises while being recorded. Michael Scipio, a 55-year-old Detroiter, later identified himself as the target.  

"I knew they had it in their heart to humiliate me.” the Free Press quoted him as saying last week.

Monday morning article:

The Grosse Pointe Park Police Department will undergo sensitivity training in the wake of videos that show an officer asking a man to dance and make odd noises, a city spokesman told The Detroit News Monday.

Grosse Pointe Park spokesman Greg Bowens said police are “looking at ways to address the culture that allows for this kind of video to surface.” Bowens said the training “will be coming fairly soon” and focus on how officers interact with members of the public who are mentally ill, adding Grosse Pointe Park police are trying to “get to the root of the problem.”

Detroiter Michael Scipio identified himself last week as the man depicted in the video footage that was first reported by the Motor City Muckraker blog run by Steve Neavling.

Scipio said he did not know when the footage was taken or which officers shot it, saying he has had many encounters with Grosse Pointe Park police, who have stopped him for public intoxication, driven him home and taken him to the hospital. He lives nearby in a group home in Detroit.

Previous coverage:

Read more: The Detroit News