Grosse Ile's first female detective has filed a lawsuit accusing the township and its police commission chairperson of retaliating against her after she reported that he interfered with a home invasion investigation and threatened witnesses. Officer Susan Dalpiaz and her husband, Paul Dalpiaz, filed the suit in Wayne County Circuit Court last Friday, alleging violations of Michigan's civil rights and whistleblower laws tied to her removal from the Detective Bureau and reassignment to patrol.
The lawsuit, first detailed by ClickOnDetroit, names both the Township of Grosse Ile and Police Commission Chair Scott Longton, who is sued individually and as an agent of the township. The complaint invokes Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and its Whistleblowers' Protection Act, statutes that allow plaintiffs to sue individual supervisors and pursue damages including back pay and emotional-distress compensation, according to Marko Law. The complaint seeks damages in excess of $25,000, along with reinstatement, expungement of discipline from her personnel file, and restoration of her seniority.
A Home Invasion During Island Fest
The dispute traces back to a home invasion that occurred on May 30 and continued into the early morning hours of May 31 on Thorofare Road in Grosse Ile, during the township's annual Island Fest celebration, per the same account. Dalpiaz, who was promoted to detective in February 2025 and became the department's first female detective, was assigned as officer in charge of the case, which involved $350 stolen from the home.
Home surveillance video reportedly showed a juvenile suspect entering and leaving the residence wearing a ski mask. During a June 5 interview conducted in the presence of the suspect's mother and an attorney, the juvenile allegedly admitted to being the person shown on the footage, the lawsuit states. Dalpiaz went on to submit a juvenile petition alleging home invasion, domestic violence, and larceny.
Allegations of Interference From the Commission Chair
According to the complaint, Longton contacted the father of a juvenile witness in the case on June 1 and identified himself as chairperson of the police commission. The lawsuit alleges he threatened to refer the victims to child protective services if the witness kept cooperating and threatened to pursue alcohol charges against the victims for furnishing alcohol to minors — all, the suit claims, to protect a friend of the juvenile suspect. Despite the surveillance footage and the alleged confession, the juvenile suspect was never prosecuted.
Dalpiaz reported what she described as suspected witness intimidation and obstruction of justice to the police chief and department command staff, and she also sent a warrant packet to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. Grosse Ile Township Ordinance Chapter 67 delegates the police commission authority over hiring and administrative oversight of the department, but the ordinance does not grant commissioners authority to conduct criminal investigations or manage active case filings, according to township records. The lawsuit alleges Longton participated in criminal investigations and witness contact without authority under those ordinances.
From Detective to Night Patrol
Rather than investigating Longton, the department instead investigated Dalpiaz after a citizen complaint was filed against her, the lawsuit states. She was placed on administrative leave on July 1 and compelled to answer a written questionnaire under threat of termination. An internal investigative report reportedly concluded that the home invasion investigation and presentation of charges were reasonable and proper, and separately described Dalpiaz's concerns as understandable and reasonable, per the lawsuit. Written allegations against her were ultimately determined unfounded.
On July 8, the township and police department suspended Dalpiaz without pay for two days, demoted her from detective to patrol officer, and reassigned her to a 12-hour night patrol platoon. She has since worked 12-hour road patrol shifts for roughly seven months while also performing detective duties, and she filed a grievance challenging the discipline on August 4. The lawsuit alleges male detectives were not subjected to the same road-patrol requirement.
Additional Claims of Unequal Treatment
Dalpiaz's suit also details a series of alleged disparities in how she was treated compared with male colleagues. She was reportedly denied access to computer systems and equipment available to male detectives, denied use of the department's drone after becoming a certified remote pilot, excluded from a workplace no-shave benefit offered to male employees, and removed from the annual deer-cull team.
On August 11, the department opened another internal investigation, this one focused on search warrant affidavits from an unrelated criminal case. The lawsuit alleges that investigation and others like it were intended to punish Dalpiaz, retroactively justify earlier discipline, and force her out of the department.
Township Response and Unanswered Questions
Township spokesperson Derek Thiel said Grosse Ile does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation, a position Longton also referred back to when reached about the allegations. Thiel added that the township denies allegations of wrongdoing and will address the claims through the legal process, according to the same reporting.
Longton, an attorney, was unanimously appointed chairperson of the five-member Grosse Ile Police Commission in February 2025 after being nominated by Township Trustee Margaret Shelton, per Citizen Portal. It remains an open question whether the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office or an independent state body will review the unprosecuted home invasion case or examine the alleged witness intimidation.
The case adds to a string of notable public safety events on the same stretch of Grosse Ile in recent months. In July, federal agents executed an FBI search warrant at a Thorofare Road residence — the same street as the May home invasion — leading to federal child exploitation charges, as Hoodline reported.
A Broader Pattern for Women in Policing
Dalpiaz's status as Grosse Ile's first female detective places her within a well-documented national gap: sworn female officers make up roughly 12% of law enforcement personnel nationwide, according to data compiled by the National Policing Institute and cited by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Nationwide initiatives such as the 30x30 Initiative aim to raise that share to 30% by 2030.
The Grosse Ile Police Department handled 6,332 documented incidents and 11,148 total calls in 2025 through its own dispatch center, and operates a Detective Bureau responsible for investigating financial crimes, break-ins, and property offenses, according to the department's year-in-review report. Dalpiaz's lawsuit asks the court to reinstate her to her detective position, restore her seniority and benefits, expunge the discipline from her record, and bar further retaliation, in addition to seeking back pay, damages, attorney fees, and costs.
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