Former Ecorse police chief speaks out about sudden firing

Ecorse City Council voted on firing ex-top cop while he was out of town

DETROIT – The veteran police official who was suddenly fired by the City of Ecorse is not leaving the position quietly.

Dr. Joseph Thomas, the former Ecorse police chief is an expert in finding public corruption. He was allegedly fired after blowing the whistle on some serious allegations.

Dr. Thomas actually was not in town when the Ecorse City Council voted to fire him.

Read more: Defenders investigate after Ecorse Public Safety director fired

He claims to have information on what happened and how it was executed. That is until last week when the Ecorse City Council suddenly fired him.

Dr. Thomas says he was in the middle of an investigation involving some Ecorse police officers and public officials. That investigation was related to how stolen cars were handled, he says.

According to Thomas, people allegedly profited off of vehicles that didn’t belong to them.

Thomas’ attorney Leonard Mungo says some people at Ecorse City Hall who did not like the investigation, made life miserable for him and he filed a whistleblower lawsuit.

“No initiatives were taken to remove or even suggest that Dr. Thomas should be removed as director of public safety for Ecorse until January after the whistle was blown. That’s when all the adverse action begins to take place,” said Mungo.


About the Authors:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.