Former Deputy Mayor Named New Detroit Police Chief

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan named on Monday former Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison as his choice to become the new Detroit police chief about three months after former Chief James White left the role.

Duggan called it a "day of celebration" as he and Bettison were surrounded by dozens of people — council members, community leaders and police officials including former Chief White.

"I think as deputy mayor, Todd Bettison ... demonstrated his ability," the mayor said while praising his stint as interim police chief. He cited Bettison's work with the community, the support of the police and several of his initiatives.

The selection of Bettison goes to the City Council for approval.

Duggan decided on Bettison, whom he chose to be interim police chief in late October, over a week after the Detroit Board of Commissioners forwarded their three finalists for consideration, including Joel Fitzgerald, former chief of police and emergency management with Denver’s Regional Transportation District, and Joshua Wallace, commander of Chicago's Criminal Network Group.

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.

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 2020 demonstrations 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.

The mayor made the selection less than a week after Duggan spokesman John Roach said the Duggan was scheduling interviews with the finalists.

The Detroit News last week reported on issues that emerged with the other finalists, Fitzgerald and Wallace.

The president of the search firm charged with finding Detroit police chief candidates said he wasn't aware that Wallace filed for bankruptcy last year after falling $839,735 in debt or that Fitzgerald was fired from the Denver transit police chief job last year after being accused of displaying a "lack of good judgment."

Bettison's background

While Bettison was Detroit's deputy mayor, he played a major role in launching the Shot Stoppers Community Violence Intervention program, in which six agencies selected by the city handle assigned 3-square-mile to 5-square-mile high-crime areas. Bettison and Mayor Mike Duggan said during a press conference earlier this month that the CVI programs were affecting the city's violence.

The groups were allowed to craft and implement their own violence reduction strategies. Each group is given a $175,000 budget per quarter and can earn up to $175,000 more in performance grants each quarter if violence is reduced in their areas.

Bettison said in late October that he didn't envision making major changes when he took over as interim chief. "Only a fool tries to fix what isn't broken," Bettison told The News at the time. But he did say quality of life issues would be a priority.

The interim police chief said he also wanted to crack down on gas station attendants who sell vaping products to minors and continue building partnerships with community groups and other law enforcement agencies.

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, told The News in October that Bettison "rose above that incident."

If confirmed by the council, the new chief will lead a department under which homicides in 2024 dropped to 203, their lowest level since 1965 and a 19% drop from 203.

Detroit's homicide rate per 100,000 resident remains among the highest in the nation at 31.9 in 2024. The national average is 7.4 per 100,000. Michigan's homicide rate is 5.83 per 100,000 residents.

Preliminary 2024 numbers also showed Detroit ended the year with 606 non-fatal shootings — a 25% decline from the previous year and a 48% plummet from two years ago. Carjackings experienced a 15% decline in 2024 and a 71% reduction since 2015.

Violent crime in Detroit dropped 7.2% from 2023, according to Detroit police statistics. The 11,681 violent crimes recorded in the city in 2024 is the lowest at any time since the 1960s, according to a Detroit News review of FBI Uniform Crime reports and Detroit police reports from 1973-2024.

Detroit police officials credited multiple factors, including years-long efforts to build bridges between law enforcement and the community, and partnerships with other agencies, with helping lower violence in the city.

Issues with two finalists

The Detroit News last week reported on issues that emerged with the other finalists, Fitzgerald and Wallace.

Fitzgerald was fired in September from the Denver transit job after he was accused of infractions that included a failure to comply with department policies and driving a police vehicle at excessive speeds. Two months after he was fired, Fitzgerald filed a federal lawsuit claiming he was retaliated against for reporting racial discrimination.

"A month after Fitzgerald’s official EEO complaint to the Department, he was terminated based on false pretenses," the lawsuit said.

Fitzgerald did not mention the firing or the lawsuit during his interview with the Detroit police board.

Fitzgerald served as police chief in five other police departments, including Fort Worth, where he was fired in 2019 after the city manager accused him of a "lack of good judgment." Fitzgerald appealed the firing, and a state appeals panel ruled he should have been "honorably discharged" instead of generally discharged.

Fitzgerald sued the city of Fort Worth, claiming he was fired shortly before he was scheduled to meet with FBI agents to report alleged violations by the city. Fitzgerald last year was awarded a $5.2 million settlement as one of three whistleblower lawsuits settled by the Fort Worth City Council.

Wallace, in February 2024, was nearly $840,000 in debt when he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, according to federal court records.

Thomas Adams, president of Southfield-based TJ Adams Staffing Services, told The Detroit News he wasn't aware of Wallace's bankruptcy filing or that Fitzgerald had been fired from Denver and had an ongoing lawsuit against his former employer claiming racial discrimination.

"Some of the other candidates had checkered pasts, too," said Thomas Adams, president of Southfield-based TJ Adams Staffing Services. "We can only pick from the list of people we're provided."

Police board Chairman Darryl Woods told The News he wasn't aware of Wallace's bankruptcy filing or Fitzgerald's firing and subsequent lawsuit.

"That wasn't brought to our attention, although we did learn that (Fitzgerald) had a checkered past; that he was fired from one job but was exonerated," Woods said. "Some of the other candidates had checkered pasts, too. We can only pick from the list of people we're provided."

Two finalists — Lamar, Colorado Police Chief Alan Fear; and former Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Vernon Coakley Jr. — dropped their candidacies without being interviewed after several people voiced their support for Bettison at a late January police board meeting.

Bettison is poised to succeed White, the city's police for three years, who left to become the CEO of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. 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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