Cpl. Michael D. Spencer was able to keep his position with the Wilmington Police Department despite several arrests and internal rebukes. 1/24/18 Damian Giletto/The News Journal


Wilmington police Cpl. Michael D. Spencer had a pattern of drinking, making mistakes and keeping his job.

He stayed employed after he was found drunk and naked in the home of a woman whose car he collided with while intoxicated in 2010, court records show. 

He also kept his job after a 2013 DUI and in 2015 after he drunkenly broke into a stranger's home, terrifying the homeowners, according to court records. 

In 2016, when the 2010 case resulted in a lawsuit that found its way to the Delaware Supreme Court, Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. wrote a scathing dissenting opinion arguing that the city should not be exempt from liability and calling Spencer's behavior "boorish, creepy, and dangerous." 

Still, Spencer kept his badge –– until now. 

As of Jan. 17, Spencer, 33, is no longer employed by the city. The officer with a decade-long troubled history resigned from his position after the internal affairs division investigated a complaint regarding an inappropriate photo he sent to a female officer, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

The Police Department would offer no details. Chief Robert J. Tracy declined to be interviewed. 

"This type of behavior should’ve been disciplined a long time ago, and he should have been fired," said Maria Haberfeld, a police integrity expert at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Current and former law enforcement officers say the city Police Department's office of professional standards is generally effective at weeding out problem officers. But Spencer's tenure –– blemished with a series of internal reprimands and public blunders –– raises questions about police accountability in Wilmington and the strength of an internal affairs system that repeatedly disciplined him, but allowed him to continue work as a law enforcement officer. 

Spencer's resignation, rather than a firing mandated by a trial board, means he could work in law enforcement in Delaware again, Haberfeld said.

"I just don't understand what kind of mechanism of accountability this department has that allowed for this to continue," she said. "Ten years is pretty much enough for anybody to establish that there is a pattern of misconduct." 

Signs of trouble

Spencer's disciplinary record started his first year on the job.

He had only been a police officer for about nine months when he failed to show up to work in September 2008, according to Strine's dissent. His supervisors called Spencer twice, but he didn't answer. So officers went to his home.

"It took that door knocking to get him out of bed," Strine wrote. "Officer Spencer's police superiors had several hints that he had missed his shift because he was too hungover to make it to work." 

In October 2008, Spencer was written up for a flawed investigation involving a physical altercation at a Wilmington bar between three off-duty cops and a civilian, the dissent said.

Spencer violated department protocol in part by "not interviewing any of the three off-duty officers, and otherwise failing to properly investigate the incident," Strine wrote. 

A month later, Spencer was involved in a domestic dispute, the dissent said. Spencer's girlfriend was fighting with the mother of Spencer's daughter, according to the dissent, and the girlfriend alleged Spencer "placed his hands on" the mother. The girlfriend called the police.

Spencer "grabbed his gun... while appearing drunk" and drove to his supervisor's house, the dissent said. He was subsequently disciplined for failing to inform the appropriate officer about his domestic dispute.  

"After each instance, he got a written reprimand, which was not accompanied by any requirement that he undertake treatment, demonstrate that he had changed his behavior, or face any real consequence," Strine wrote.

"What is notable about each of these incidents is that they seem to involve a lack of judgment, a propensity to mix the use of alcohol with driving and the carrying of a gun, and the notion that situations involving police officers should be handled differently than those involving ordinary citizens." 

After that 2008 incident, Spencer enjoyed an 18-month stint where he did not get disciplined, according to the dissent. He soon became a patrolman.

But by 2010, he was in trouble again. 

In April 2010, after drinking at the Delaware Association of Police hall on Lancaster Avenue, Spencer "drove off in a police car and rear-ended another vehicle," Strine wrote. State police cited Spencer for "inattentive driving" because he had been texting, the dissent said. Spencer failed to properly report the incident to Wilmington police, according to the dissent.

That same month, Spencer was disciplined for failing to file the correct report after he discharged a Taser, according to Delaware Supreme Court records.

"The police subculture is a closed society and they tend to look out for each other and take care of each other," said Philip Stinson, a leading researcher of police integrity at Bowling Green State University. 

Spencer did not respond to a request for comment for this story, nor did attorney Eugene Maurer, who has represented Spencer in the past. 

'Huge red flags' 

On the night of June 4, 2010, Spencer made headlines for the first time.  

"Officer Spencer's behavior that evening can only be described as creepy at best, and incredibly scary and criminal at worst," Strine wrote. 

After leaving a "beef and beer" police fundraising event and then visiting a Trolley Square bar, Spencer attempted to drive home under the influence, according to the dissent.

At 2 a.m., Spencer drove through a red light and collided with a woman's car at the intersection of Orange and Second streets, the dissent said.

When he called the Police Department to report the incident, the dispatcher "could tell that he might be drunk," the dissent said, but the dispatcher did not tell his supervisor about it because "he didn't want to get the officer in trouble." 

While waiting for police to respond, Spencer showed the driver, Morgan McCaffrey, his police identification and asked if they could "handle the matter civilly," according to the dissent. She agreed, "because he was a police officer" and Spencer canceled the call to police before he proceeded to kiss McCaffrey on the lips, Delaware Supreme Court records state. She backed away.

After they moved their cars from the roadway, Spencer handed her his handgun, magazine and police badge and asked to go to her apartment, according to Delaware Supreme Court records. She consented, records state, because she felt pressured by his position as a law enforcement officer.

At McCaffrey's home, Spencer took off his pants, tried to straddle her and twice asked to have sex, Delaware Supreme Court records said. McCaffrey refused, and Spencer passed out in her bed.

McCaffrey called 911.

Spencer's colleagues who responded found him "naked on the bed covered by a sheet," Delaware Supreme Court records show. He appeared "drunk, smelled of alcohol, and attempted to dress himself by 'putting his legs through the shirt instead of over his head.'" 

At the direction of a police captain, Spencer's coworkers did not conduct a field sobriety test and waited five hours before administering a breathalyzer test, which he "supposedly" passed eight times, Delaware Supreme Court records state.

Spencer would later testify that he did not remember taking those tests.

The only criminal charge that resulted from that incident was a traffic citation for failure to stop at a red light, Superior Court records show. 

Spencer pleaded no contest, Superior Court records state. The case was discharged without judgment of guilt, records show, and it was dismissed after he paid a $181 fine.

The Police Department suspended him without pay for 31 days, the dissent noted, and Spencer entered into an alcohol rehabilitation program. He was given one year of probation for any like offenses involving the consumption of alcohol, according to the dissent.

Haberfeld said Spencer's very first disciplinary issue, allegedly not showing up to work after a night of partying, should've been a fireable offense. For his behavior to have been allowed to continue is "just unacceptable." 

"Police officers have so much authority in terms of their ability to use force, and they can ruin people's lives," she said. "This is very inappropriate."

McCaffrey filed suit against Spencer, the city and then-Chief Michael J. Szczerba in January 2012. 

A Delaware Supreme Court majority ruled that Spencer's actions were "embarrassing" conduct for a police officer, but the city of Wilmington and Szczerba could not be held liable. 

RELATED: Wilmington not liable for off-duty officer's sexual advances

Chief Justice Strine thought that was ludicrous. 

He argued in his dissent that a jury should decide if and how the city should be held accountable for hiring and retaining an officer who repeatedly displayed "knucklehead, irresponsible, and stupid behavior."

He wrote the following: 

Huge red flags regarding the repeated, inappropriate use of alcohol by Officer Spencer were not followed up on by officers who were trained to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior. It does not take a great detective to smoke out a hangover on the part of someone who can't wake up when multiple calls to his house are made, and who comes to the door only after an officer goes and bangs on it. What citizen gets arrested for 'inattentive driving' after having a few drinks and does not get tested for alcohol use? What is a police culture where an officer responds to a bar fight and does not follow up because some of the participants are fellow officers? In what state of the world is no field sobriety or blood alcohol test timely given when a male gropes a female, undresses and climbs on top of her in her bed, and falls asleep drunk there in her home? In what state of the world does a police captain -- a high ranking officer -- get involved in whether officers at the scene follow regular order? 

McCaffrey and Spencer pursued binding arbitration in the second half of 2016, court records show. McCaffrey did not respond to a request for comment. 

The beat goes on

The internal discipline that followed the 2010 incident did not mark the end of Spencer's apparent misbehavior. 

Just months later, in August 2010, he was disciplined for "negligently damaging a police vehicle following a car chase," according to Strine's dissent.

In January 2013, Spencer was charged for driving under the influence after registering a blood alcohol content almost four times the legal limit, the dissent said. He was sentenced to one year of probation, $320 in fines and participation in a five-month DUI first offenders program, according to Superior Court records.

A year later, Spencer received good news: He was honored by the Kiwanis Club for his "fine police work" and mentoring city youth. 

In June 2015, he again faced criminal charges after he drunkenly entered a stranger's home in Middletown, according to police statements at the time. 

Spencer was attending a social function at a friend's home, police said. The host of the party reported that he saw Spencer asleep in his car and assumed he would stay there until he sobered up. 

RELATED: Wilmington officer charged with breaking into home

Instead, when the 31-year-old Spencer awoke, he forced his way into a nearby home, apparently believing it was his own, police said.

Spencer, who lived in Wilmington, broke the latch on the front door and damaged part of the wooden frame, according to court documents. The Middletown homeowners following the sound of a loud noise found Spencer visibly intoxicated and standing in their hallway, court records said. 

The male homeowner produced a handgun and pointed it at Spencer, telling him repeatedly to leave, police reported in court records. Spencer told the man, "I'm scared" and "Don't shoot," among other pleas before a Delaware state trooper responded and took Spencer into custody, records state.

He was charged with two misdemeanors: third-degree criminal trespass and criminal mischief, Superior Court records show. He was released after posting $200 cash.

Spencer pleaded guilty to criminal mischief, and the trespassing charge was dropped, according to Superior Court records. He was sentenced to $3,635 in restitution and was ordered to continue drug and alcohol treatment, records show.

At work, he was placed on administrative duty, the dissent said.

Then-Chief Bobby Cummings, who retired last year and is now running for state senate, did not respond to a request for comment.

'How is it that they're still employed?'

The federal government doesn't track cases of police misconduct, but Stinson at Bowling Green State University does.

A former police officer, Stinson set up dozens of Google alerts in 2005 that email him whenever the news media reports that an officer has been arrested.

This doesn't capture everything –– police disciplinary records are shielded from public records laws –– but it helps paint a picture of the hundreds of law enforcement officers who are arrested every year.

Stinson said many departments ignore red flags and allow officers to "continue with impunity." 

"We see instances where an officer’s life is clearly unraveling and we know it because we’ve seen several criminal cases," he said. "We become aware that they file for bankruptcy, we know they’re in the middle of divorce, and they start getting involved in violent crimes, or alcohol-related crimes, substance abuse issues.

"If we can notice this in a basement research lab in Bowling Green, Ohio, how is it no one at their agency is reaching out to help them? How is it that they’re still employed?" 

One reason some officers today rebound from violations for which they'd be fired years ago is collective bargaining agreements, Stinson said. Many contracts, including the one in Wilmington, allow for officers to appeal disciplinary decisions. Union attorneys jump on flaws in the internal investigation, Stinson said, and wrongdoers get off the hook. 

"It's the general nature of municipal governments," Stinson said. "They tend to not really cross their t’s and dot their i’s, and it's not until a union lawyer gets ahold of it that it's on their radar that they didn't follow their own procedures."

Spencer hung on to his job longer than is customary, said Haberfeld, who co-authored the book "Enhancing Police Integrity." 

One reason could be that officers are forgiving toward each other when it comes to alcohol-related issues, according to Haberfeld.

"Policing, as a profession, is known for its employees having issues with alcohol and substance abuse," Haberfeld said. "They’ve sort of accepted this as part of the job." 

But failing to take action benefits no one –– not the department, not the public, and not the officer, Haberfeld said.

"Having a substance abuse problem, it’s a disease," Haberfeld said. "It’s a problem the department should be dealing with by either helping him or firing him."

Former Wilmington police chief Szczerba said in an interview that, in hindsight, he believes Spencer had no business being a police officer.

Before he was hired, Spencer had some marks on his background check, Delaware Supreme Court records show, including six minor traffic violations between 2001 and 2007. According to those records, Spencer admitted on his application "at various times in the past, to having driven under the influence of alcohol and committed minor traffic violations, and not been caught." 

"He applied, he went through a vetting process, interview and background investigation, and he was deemed fit to be hired," Szczerba said. "No workplace has a fail-proof system... We're not getting them off an assembly line. They're human like everyone else."  

Szczerba wasn't aware Spencer was still employed until recently. 

"It's alarming, but doesn't surprise me," said Szczerba.

Spencer's trajectory may look outrageous to the public, but internal affairs matters are adjudicated by the books, said Szczerba, a former internal affairs investigator.

"There are more ways you can get dismissed than I can say," he said. "But you have to apply the law the way it’s written." 

Sometimes dismissal is not within the range of penalties for a given infraction written in the police manual, Szczerba said. But the former chief said the system as a whole is effective.

"If you’re looking at one individual, one case, and you’re going to call it a failed system, I don't think that's accurate or fair," he said. 

State Fraternal Order of Police President Fred Calhoun agreed, saying officers, like civilians, are "innocent until proven guilty."

"People need to realize an internal affairs investigation is just like any other investigation of anyone who is believed to have committed a crime or violation of a rule," Calhoun said. "Although we’re held to a higher standard, that does not mean we should not be afforded the same treatment everyone else in society gets." 

Wilmington police union president Harold Bozeman did not respond to a request for comment. 

Calhoun said municipal guidelines don't always allow a department to consider a previous offense when determining a wrongdoer's punishment. 

Sometimes officers pursuing rehabilitation are asked to stay out of trouble for a certain amount of time. If they meet that expectation, Calhoun said, the slate can be wiped clean, and a subsequent offense is treated individually.

"Standards are met along the way," he said. "After you meet them, then you’ve met your requirement." 

City Councilman Bob Williams, a former Wilmington police officer, said internal affairs investigators shouldn't be so fixated on the written rules that they miss the larger point. He suggests the department increase communication with the city's human resources department.

"If there’s a pattern, you've got to link them together," he said. "They’re looking at policy and procedures and staying within the parameters, but they also need to reach out externally and say, 'I’m going by the book, but am I missing something?'"

When it comes to firing an officer, there are considerations in terms of what an individual contributes to department diversity, Haberfeld said, and the investment the city has made in them. 

"It costs a lot of money to train police officers, to put them through the academy," she said. 

Police departments should communicate clearly with officers about what behavior they will and will not condone, Haberfeld said.

"You need to have a clear roadmap for them of what the consequences are," she said. 

The News Journal asked the Police Department what, if anything, has changed about internal affairs since Chief Tracy took the helm. The department did not respond.

Haberfeld, who has studied police integrity for over 20 years, has seen stories like Spencer's play out again and again. 

"What’s scary about this," she said, "is that things don't change." 

Reporter Lex Wilson contributed to this story. Contact Christina Jedra at, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.


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