27-year-old Sean Bostwick, a rookie Detroit police officer, has been fired after he posted an offensive message about rangling up “zoo animals” on Snapchat.
On Monday, September 24, Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters during a news conference that Bostwick would no longer be a Detroit Police Officer as of Tuesday, September 25.
Furthermore, Police Chief Craig said the officer’s sentiment is “not reflective” of the department, which boasted 2,350 uniformed officers as of last year.
According to reports, Bostwick had been out of the police academy for just two months, despite being on the force for roughly 18 months. Police Chief Craig said that Bostick spent the bulk of his time in the academy due to low test scores.
via The Detroit News:
Bostwick expressed some remorse about the post during his meeting with the chief, Craig said. “He took responsibility for it. He admitted that he did this. He said he didn’t mean it the way it came off.” The officer took the post down immediately, but it had already gone viral, the police chief said.
Craig said insensitive comments of this nature will not be accepted in the department or the city. “If you feel that way, you’re not welcome here and we’re not going to have any tolerance for this kind of behavior,” he said.
He also said Bostwick had been in the field and out of the police academy for about two months. The officer had been with the force for about 18 months, but spent much of the time at the academy because of low test scores, according to the chief. He was assigned to the department’s 12th Precinct.
Because the officer was still on probation, Craig said he was able to “take quick, decisive action” in the matter. The situation would have been different if Bostwick was a tenured officer.
While speaking to reports, Detroit Police Chief Craig said that he hopes another police department does not hire Bostwick as an officer.
