Gary Steele used to be a member of the Detroit Police Department. However, things can change at any moment. The former officer is facing two lawsuits from Black women who claim he was racially abusive toward them.

Steele and his partner, Michael Garrison, were fired in February after the two seized a Black woman's car and made her walk home in the snow. During the incident, the two officers followed her and posted racist Snapchat videos of the ordeal. Detroit Police Chief James Craig said their department's investigation of Steele revealed that he had a history of being blatantly racist toward others and a penchant for brutality.

Currently, the two officers are facing lawsuits for their conduct in the Snapchat case. Steele is also facing a lawsuit for an incident in which he broke a woman's arm in the process.

Ariel Moore, the woman whose car was seized, is suing for $75,000. Meanwhile, Elaine Murriel, the woman who had her arm broken, is suing for $25,000. Both women are being represented by local attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who held a press conference on Saturday.

After seizing Moore's car, Steele drove the vehicle and used his Snapchat account to post a video of her walking. During the video, an officer says "Bye Felicia." Along with the videos, Steele included captions that read, “What Black Girl Magic looks like” and “celebrating Black History Month.”

Craig told local news outlets that their investigation uncovered decades of racial abuse by Steele and comments from other officers about the racist language he used.

"Terms he used on several occasions, such as 'Keisha,' 'Jakes' and 'homies,' which were all derogatory, demoralizing and degrading, and yes, racially insensitive in the context of which it was used," Craig said after firing Steele.

"Former police officer Steele has lost the trust of those he served and can no longer provide policing services in our city. The actions taken by former police officer Steele not only negatively impacted our community, but also people across this great nation."

Somehow, Steele was even worse in his conduct with Murriel, who was dropping her son off at his father's home. The father's girlfriend attempted to run over Murriel with a car, and she used her legal firearm to shoot at the vehicle. When the police were called, the officers said Murriel was calm, collected and responding to all their orders.

Steele showed up later and began to arrest her while she was holding her young child. During the arrest, Steele ended up yanking her arm behind her back so hard that he broke it. She was forced to undergo surgery to fix the break.

"Other responding officers were upset and angry over Steele’s conduct, and commented that Steele’s actions were completely unnecessary," Fieger said in the lawsuit.

Craig said after the Snapchat incident he received hundreds of letters, emails and Facebook messages from Detroit residents. Others questioned how an officer like Steele could have spent so many years on the force.

"What is even more frightening," one letter said, "is that this man has been doing this job for over 18 years. It begs the question of how many others were humiliated, shamed and mocked by a man who was supposed to respect, maintain and value law and order."

Now, check these out:

New Study Finds 8 Percent Of Male Homicides In The U.S. Are Committed By Police Officers

Baltimore Officer Resigns After Being Seen Violently Attacking Man In Video

A St. Louis Cop Broke This Man's Jaw Over Loud Music And Allegedly Later Threatened To Do It Again

james craig

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week