Royal Oak police launch internal probe after Black man stopped for 'looking suspiciously' at white woman

Royal Oak police are conducting an internal investigation after a viral Facebook video showed cops stopping a Black man for “looking suspiciously” at a white woman Tuesday evening.

The department’s handling of the white woman’s complaint drew heavy criticism following a Metro Times story Wednesday.

Witnesses said police stopped Devin Myers, who was walking to a restaurant, for up to an hour. The video, which was viewed more than 630,000 times as of Thursday morning, showed Myers calmly answering questions.

"We are in the process of evaluating what mistakes have been made and we will own them, we will learn from them, and we will continue to strive to be better in everything we do," Royal Oak Mayor Michael Fournier said in a statement.

Police have declined to discuss the case, citing the internal investigation.

Fournier said Royal Oak is "passionate" about embracing “people from all walks of life."

"We are passionate about being a city that lives and acts according to our values and one where all people from all walks of life, from all racial and ethnic backgrounds feel not just safe, but welcome and embraced as members of our community," the mayor said.  

"We absolutely recognize that racial bias exists and we as a community aspire to be among those working every day to combat it. But, this is not just the work of our officers and public officials alone, but all of us, individually [and] as a community must put in the effort to recognize and come to terms with our own personal prejudices and biases."


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