DETROIT _ Six Detroit police officers have been suspended because of an ongoing federal investigation, police said.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, all of the suspended officers were at one time or another involved with the towing of vehicles. The source said the officers are scattered throughout the department.
The officers have been suspended with pay, according to Michael Woody, director of the Detroit Police Department's media relations. It is not known if they will be criminally charged, he said.
The nature and length of the investigation is unclear. But Woody said the suspensions are not related to a prior narcotics investigation that led to the convictions of two Detroit police officers, David Hansberry and Bryan Watson, who were convicted of conspiracy in a jury trial for plotting fake drug busts with the help of drug dealers.
Hansberry and Watson were accused of _ among other things _ stealing drugs that were seized during busts and then having dealers resell the drugs on the street and split the proceeds with them.
