Former Detroit police commissioner admitted to paying $10 for sexual favors, officers said
Former Detroit Police Commissioner Bryan Ferguson admitted to officers that he had paid a prostitute $10 in exchange for sexual favors in Detroit on July 12, according to a citation obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
"Yes, I gave her $10 dollars for it," the citation says Ferguson told undercover narcotics officers from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office that caught him parked in his car in Detroit that morning engaging in a sex act with the prostitute.
"I'm sorry, I know I was wrong."
That's not what Ferguson said to the public. He previously denied the allegations, characterized them as a "big misunderstanding," and said the woman was unknown to him and that she had attempted to enter his vehicle.
"Can you help me out? Can I throw something out there please?" Ferguson continued, according to the citation. "I'm a Detroit Police Commissioner."
Ferguson was issued a misdemeanor citation for indecent or obscene conduct involving a sex act with a prostitute. He resigned from his position as a Detroit Police Commissioner for District 1.
Prior to his resignation, Ferguson sent out a news release denying the allegations and informed the public he was stepping away from the police oversight board's weekly meetings. The news release was signed "in the spirit of transparency and accountability."
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Ferguson could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
An officer wrote in the citation that he and other undercover officers had been conducting surveillance in Detroit when they saw a woman known to them as a sex worker standing on the corner of Cheyenne and Schoolcraft, making eye contact and waving at men as they drove by, according to the citation.
Then officers observed Ferguson's vehicle drive past the sex worker and circle around the block several times before stopping in the middle of the street next to the woman, according to the citation. She entered the vehicle, and Ferguson drove to a side street and parked in front of a vacant house on Sorrento, the officer wrote.
When officers approached Ferguson, his pants were unzipped and unbuckled.
"This is going to really mess things up for me," Ferguson told officers, according to the citation.
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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will appoint a new commissioner to represent District 1. His office has begun the process of identifying potential candidates who might be eligible, qualified, and interested, according to John Roach, city spokesperson. The appointment will then go to city council for a vote.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442, asahouri@freepress.com or on Twitter @andreamsahouri.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police commissioner admitted to paying for sexual favors, officers say
