Update: Prosecutors dismissed the case on Feb. 26 after the alleged victim failed to appear in court.
A recently promoted Detroit police captain has been suspended with pay after he was charged with domestic violence for allegedly choking his wife, who is also a cop, in their Birmingham home.
Capt. Scott Hall was promoted to captain in August, despite racking up 56 citizen complaints during his 23-year career with DPD.
Police Chief James White demoted Hall to lieutenant but allowed him to continue collecting pay while he’s on leave.
Hall was arrested on Jan. 2 after his wife called 911 and said her inebriated husband choked her. She told police she had feared for her life and that Hall left the house in his police-issued vehicle.
Police in Beverly Hills pulled him over and arrested him.
For reasons that remain unclear, Hall was not charged with drunken driving.
During a Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting in August, White defended his decision to promote Hall, despite the dozens of citizen complaints against him.
“Officer Hall had a significant number of citizen complaints,” White told commissioners. “I met with him, and we talked about that. We talked about some very personal things he was going through and how proud he is that he’s overcome those.”
White said he was “confident” in his decision.
“I look at who he has been since he’s become a leader in this organization, and I also look at how he engages with our citizens. … I will tell you, I proudly make this recommendation despite who he was. I make this recommendation because of who he is. And I make this recommendation because I am confident he can save officers who are going down the wrong path. Leadership is what happens when no one is watching, and he is a leader, and he is a good leader.”
Police Commissioner Willie Burton, who was the only member of the board to vote against Hall’s promotion in August, says he had concerns about Hall’s past.
“This wasn’t a surprise,” Burton tells Metro Times. “He had a lot of citizen complaints.”
Asked why he voted against the promotion, Burton says, “I felt like Scott Hall was not ready to move forward with a promotion. We want our officers to have the same love and compassion for our residents as we do. We have many good officers within the department who don't have any blemishes on their record and were more deserving for a promotion.”
Burton also questioned why Hall, who is white, was suspended with pay, while another officer, who was Black, was suspended without pay following similar allegations.
“It would be nice to see the chief be more consistent,” Burton says. “One of the officers was demoted but got to keep his pay, but the other officer was demoted and was suspended without pay. Where’s the consistency?”
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