(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/10/2025) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Monday recommended Interim Chief Todd Bettison as the city's police chief. 

Bettison, who succeeds James E. White, has spent more than 30 years at Detroit Police Department, retiring as 1st Assistant Chief of Police – the second highest ranking member of the department – before accepting the deputy mayor position in 2021. 

"Todd Bettison came to this city as a teenager," Duggan said during a press conference, noting Bettison worked his way up the ranks one step at a time. 

Duggan's recommendation goes to the City Council for approval. 

"All I can say is wow," Bettison said as he thanked his family for their support and Duggan for his "continued confidence." 

A number of officers and community leaders spoke with respect for Bettison, whom one sheriff called “a brother to me.” 

"He's a leader in law enforcement," Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington said. "… He's going to continue to be successful." 

Bettison began as a patrol officer in 1994 and within five years was promoted to sergeant. One year later, he was promoted to lieutenant, scoring the highest of any candidate in the department with each promotion, according to the city's website. 

Throughout his career, Bettison established and maintained relationships with community leaders at the local, state and federal levels. 

Bettison oversaw protests in the city during late spring and summer 2020, following the death of George Floyd, who died May 25, 2020, during an arrest by a Minneapolis police officer. 

Bettison, who was one of three finalists, said the department has 2,700 sworn police officers and 60 open positions. He hoped the Legislature would have passed 2023-24's HB 4605 and HB 4606, which would have brought $18 million to the city to help hire more officers. 

Bettison's plans for the department include an ongoing desire for "continuous improvement," including connecting with the city's juvenile population and focusing on "problematic locations," such as gas stations who sell vape pens to teenagers. 

The finalists included Joel Fitzgerald, former police chief with Denver's Regional Transportation District, and Joshua Wallace, commander of Chicago's Criminal Network Group. 

The Detroit News reported recently that Wallace filed for bankruptcy in 2024 after falling nearly $840,000 in debt and Fitzgerald was fired from the Denver transit police chief position after displaying a "lack of good judgment." 

Darryl Woods, chair of the police commission, said he will never forget the first day he met Bettison. At the time, Woods was a prison inmate and Bettison was a lieutenant, who worked with the incarcerated. Woods said Bettison struck him as someone who had an "open heart, and he had a strong sensitivity towards community and towards the men." 

"This is a good day, a beautiful day for the city of Detroit," said Woods, who spent 29 years in prison for first-degree premeditated murder in connection with a 1990 robbery. 

Woods’ conviction was overturned after a witness recanted prior testimony and then reversed. His sentence was commuted in 2019. 

"We have a leader in this chief who is sensitive enough to go in the backyards of those who are struggling, and those who may have been selling drugs, those who are being violent prone and said, 'There’s hope for you,'" Woods added. "He is the man for the job, he is the leader for the job. He is the chief for the job."