DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – Dearborn Heights Road Patrol officer Emily Murdoch says her pay was suddenly cut off without warning this week.
Murdoch is the same officer who designed a controversial bilingual and optional uniform badge for the department.
Murdoch is a decorated officer and has been with the department for nearly nine years. She enjoys graphic design and put the optional patch together after previously designing mental health awareness shirts. It features the words “Dearborn Heights Police” in English and Arabic.
She presented it to the city’s chief of police in September, and he rolled the patch out that day.
“I had a sergeant text me, ‘Is the patch fake?’” Murdoch said.
The comments piled on. She said she was receiving online threats from across the country and the world.
She felt unsafe in her own department, too.
She said she reached out to her union president for help. They released a statement soon after saying the patch had been made for officers to wear during the month of Ramadan.
Murdoch says it was never for Ramadan and released her own statement clarifying that.
“Once I realized my union president had put out a false narrative about what happened, I then attempted to reach our business agent through POAM to voice my concerns about what was going on because I felt like I needed help and I was not receiving the help I needed,” Murdoch said.
She spoke to the business agent and recorded his response.
Local 4 heard the recording of the call. The agent says they were trying to change the narrative from her being “Jihadist” to her being an American citizen. Local 4 cannot independently verify it is the business agent speaking. Local 4 reached out to verify it is him, but have not heard back.
Murdoch then spoke to a union lawyer. She says he told her to try and bridge the gap with coworkers amid the backlash. Murdoch says she went to the city’s human resources department and sent him an email requesting an investigation.
Murdoch was placed on leave by the chief and HR ordered a ‘fit for duty evaluation.’
“During the appointment, the doctor informed me that I am not getting the assessment I was told I was going to get,” Murdoch said.
She went to HR to ask why. She says HR did not know and never told her why.
“On Sept. 30, the lieutenant called me and told me I am supposed to come back to work on Oct. 1,” Murdoch said. “I tell him that I did not get the right assessment and that my issues have not been addressed.”
She was still ordered back, but didn’t feel safe knowing things had not been addressed.
“He said he will see me tomorrow morning,” Murdoch said.
Murdoch says that same day HR told her their informal assessment is that there was no wrongdoing.
Soon after, she said she ended up in a closed door meeting with department leadership, without representation.
“I do not know why I was in that meeting without representation and that I requested to leave twice and it was not acknowledged or accepted during that meeting,” Murdoch said.
On Oct. 13, she was put on administrative leave again. Around that time she had another meeting with the administration, this time with a representative.
She then filed multiple grievances.
On Oct. 23, the captain emailed her saying her complaints were not sustained.
She was ordered back to work on Oct. 27th. She was put on a doctor’s note, which was extended right before Christmas, which she sent to administration.
“I am respectfully requesting my other times be used - vacation, personal time, and PTO,” Murdoch said.
Then she went to look at her paycheck.
“They cut my pay without telling me or even responding to my email,” Murdoch said.
According to her paycheck, she is receiving $934 less than what she typically would.
She says she reached out to FOIA her investigation. Her request was denied and she was told it is still an open investigation.
Murdoch also says the Michigan Department of Civil Rights has also accepted her certified civil rights complaint.
Local 4 reached out to the police department for comment, but was told to reach out to the city of Dearborn Heights for a statement. Local 4 then reached out to the city, but was told to reach out to the police department.