Deputy Mayor to Start Duties as Detroit's Interim Police Chief Next Month

DETROIT— When the city's new interim police chief assumes the job next month, he said he'll continue his years-long effort to build partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the community to keep crime down in Detroit.

"Collaboration is the key," Deputy Detroit Mayor and longtime Detroit Police executive Todd Bettison said during a Friday press conference at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, where Mayor Mike Duggan introduced him as the city's interim police chief.

"When you see the community and police working together with public safety as our north star, we can come together and learn to trust each other," Bettison told the dozens of people who packed the press briefing. "That's why Detroit is seeing these historic lows as it relates to crime reduction."

Police Chief James White last week was named CEO of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. The chief, who is a licensed mental health therapist, is a 28-year Detroit police veteran who was appointed Detroit's 43rd police chief in August 2021 after serving as interim chief for two months. White served as an assistant chief from 2012 until August 2020, when he left to head the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

Bettison said he will start his new duties Nov. 11, a day after White's final day as chief. A national search for a permanent top cop will commence as soon as the Detroit Police Commissioners picks a search firm, board Chairman Darryl Woods said.

Bettison said Friday he "absolutely" wants the permanent job.

"I'm definitely here to compete," Bettison said. "I truly believe that I am the best individual for the role of permanent chief, having been here already . . . so, with a resounding yes, I want to lead this police department."

Bettison's background

Bettison was with the Detroit Police Department for 27 years before leaving in 2022 to become deputy mayor. He started with the department in 1994 as a patrol officer, according to his biography on the city's website, and within five years he was promoted to sergeant, making the rank of lieutenant a year later. He was first assistant chief when he left the department.

Since becoming deputy mayor, Bettison has served as Duggan's point person on community issues, including efforts to find jobs for Detroit residents and the "Shot Stoppers" violence intervention program.

During Friday's press conference, Duggan praised Bettison's work with the community.

"Whenever things went bad, he went to the community and said, 'We messed up,'" the mayor said, adding that Bettison was instrumental in "transforming this department."

"People thought if you worked with the community, crime would go up because you're soft on crime," Duggan said. "We've shown the opposite, and last year, we had the fewest homicides since 1966."

Bettison was also responsible for overseeing the protests that lasted throughout the late spring and summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer during a May 25, 2020 arrest. Bettison cried during a press briefing following one of the protests because he said after he'd knelt with demonstrators, someone in the crowd tossed a projectile at the officers, prompting police to deploy tear gas.

"Back in 2020 when there was a lot of civil unrest, we talked to Detroiters, and they said, 'Not in our city' as far as tearing things up and destroying things," Bettison recalled during Friday's press briefing. "And we didn't have the kind of problems other cities had."

Others react

Community activist Maurice " Pastor Mo" Hardwick said Bettison has helped him on multiple occasions without fanfare.

"I got a call at 4 in the morning one time from a guy telling me, ''I'm about to blow up the police department, the churches and the schools,'" Hardwick recalled. "The man was kind of crazy, but he wasn't that crazy his sister was displaced. ... I called Todd Bettison, and he got out of bed. We went over to see that man, and he came out of his pocket to put his sister up in a hotel.

"Another time, in Rouge Park there was a young lady who was shot over a basketball game, and she had seven to nine kids who saw her get killed," Hardwick said. "They were sleeping in an air mattress in their pantry, and having to go to school and deal with algebra after watching their mom get killed in cold blood. I got on the phone and called Todd Bettison; he met me that day ... and went into his pocket and gave me $500, and we got those people in a house. This is the chief you're going to have."

White said he worked well with Bettison for years, and that the police department will be in good hands when he leaves for his new position.

"Todd is a partner," White said. "He's been a partner from the day I joined this department, and not just when I was chief. I'm so proud to turn over this agency to him, although I'm not really turning it over, because he's not been anywhere."

White told the man who'll temporarily replace him: "Now that you're officially home, I want to be a partner to you, as you've been with me. If you need me, I'm a phone call away."

White also said he'll help the Detroit Police Department in his new position as head of the county's largest mental health agency.

"I'll do everything I can to bring you resources so we can stop encountering these folks with mental illnesses during police runs," White said.

National search begins

Woods, the police board chairman, said the board will begin a national search as soon as the board chooses a firm to conduct the interviews.

"The City Charter says we have to do a national search, and we already have the ball rolling," Woods said. "We've identified a committee to be able to find a search firm, and then we'll do our due diligence in interviewing some of the best candidates in the country. It'll be a fair and transparent process."

Woods, who spent 29 years in prison for murder before former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder commuted his sentence in 2019, said Bettison helped him with a literacy program while the police board chairman was still incarcerated.

"He's a powerful leader," Woods said of Bettison. "He came to the prison and worked with us and the NAACP on a program that helped youth. We worked together to help save the lives of so many young people who were on the wrong path. This is a powerful selection (for interim chief), and as we figure this thing out, we'll see if there's anybody better."

In 2007, when he was a commander at the police department, Bettison was at the center of a controversy after he crashed an unmarked department vehicle into a utility pole on Detroit's east side. Bettison, who was off-duty, later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while impaired, after originally being charged with drunk driving and carrying a weapon while drunk, which were also misdemeanors.

An empty wine bottle was found on the passenger's floorboard of Bettison's car, while three identical bottles lay on the ground outside the vehicle, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. A Detroit police supervisor visited Bettison in the hospital before removing the bottles from the crash scene, Worthy said. The supervisor was charged with tampering with evidence, misconduct in office and neglect of duty, although a jury acquitted him.

Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore, a former Detroit police officer, said Bettison "rose above that incident."

"He's been able to put that behind him," Moore said. "I think Todd is an excellent choice.

The commissioner said he and Bettison were mentored by former Detroit Police Chief and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who died in December 2020.

"Benny allowed us both to develop our own career paths, and Todd's career has been great," Moore said.

Former Detroit Police Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt, who worked with Bettison for years before retiring in 2017, said he doesn't expect the new interim top cop to make any major changes.

"Things seem to be going OK. Crime is down, and I don't see him rocking the boat," Dolunt said.

The new interim chief has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Wayne State University and a Graduate Business Certificate from the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State, according to his biography. He is also a graduate of Eastern Michigan University's School of Police Staff and Command, his biography said.

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