Detroit Police Chief James Craig's last day is today

DETROIT - Detroit's top cop will finish out a 44-year career Tuesday when he comes into work as police chief for the last time. 

Buzz about James Craig's retirement arrived amid a flurry of speculation about a future run for governor under the Republican ticket. 

What started as a law enforcement career at age 19 took Craig to Los Angeles, Portland, Maine, and Cincinnati. Detroit, the place where it all began is also where it will end. 

In a 1-on-1 interview about his time as head of the police department, he told FOX 2 he thought it was "fitting to say I started here and finished here." He experienced racism shortly after getting on the job as part of former Mayor Coleman Young's racial integration program of DPD.

It would be years and several different jobs before he would end back in the city where its police department solved few of its homicides and had record-long 911 response rates. James White, the head of the Department of Civil Rights, was announced as the new interim leader of the department. 

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Craig is considering a run for governor, where he would run as a Republican. If selected as the party's nominee, he would challenge incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer.