Highland Park police chief calls for councilman to resign for unprofessional remarks

Highland Park police chief calls for councilman to resign

A Highland Park councilman is singled out for his unprofessional and hateful remarks. These remarks were made by City Council Member Khursheed Ash-Shafii during a Highland Park City Council meeting on Monday evening.

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Highland Park police chief is calling on a city council member to resign.

What they're saying:

The chief says Councilman Khursheed Ash-Shafii’s unprofessional and racist behavior puts members of the police force at risk.

A Highland Park councilman is singled out for his unprofessional and hateful remarks towards the police, saying "may they burn in hell in this life and the next."

The remarks were made by City Council Member Khursheed Ash-Shafii during a Highland Park City Council meeting on Monday evening.

The comments came after council members voted to approve two new vehicles for the city’s police department.

"It’s pretty disappointing, really," said Highland Park police chief James McMahon. "We have a councilman who expressed his hatred for the police as well as making public outbursts that he specifically hates white police."

Dig deeper:

The comments about white police officers were captured by police body cam back in March as police responded to a scene.

A month later, in April, the councilman was involved in a crash and was allegedly drunk at the time.

What's next:

Now McMahon is calling on the councilman to resign. Some officers wanted to be out of the department because of him.

"At this point, it would probably be better for the city if he resigned," McMahon said. "They believe he has a lot of political power because he is an elected official, and they feel that could come back to the department and impact our budget. His mindset is not appropriate for an elected official."

FOX 2 reached out to the councilman, and as of Tuesday afternoon had not heard back.