Detroit's new interim chief wants focus on crime and traffic
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Tuesday marks a new chapter for the Detroit Police Department s interim police chief Todd Bettison is sworn in to take the role previously held by James White.
Bettison was sworn in Tuesday and has already met with dozens of officers within the department.
"I hung out with the officers at roll call. I spent about an hour there you know talking to our young officers. There so many officers that we’ve hired since, you know, my departure back in 2022," Bettison said.
The interim chief is referring to his previous role as deputy mayor in Mike Duggan's office for the past two years. Prior to that, however, he spent 27 years in the Detroit Police Department.
"I had to focus on so many different departments. Now I’m focusing on one department, something I have experience in. So, it’s like putting a fish back in water. I can swim. I can swim. So, I’m going to be swimming all up and down your street," he said.
His top priority is to continue to reduce crime. Under White's leadership, the city saw violent crime drop to its lowest level in six decades.
Since this time last year, Bettison said violent crimes continue to fall with homicides down 18%, sexual assault down 11%, robberies down 16%, burglaries down 2%, and car thefts down 11%. Bettison knows the job isn't done.
"The community in Detroit is complaining about…cars blowing red light, blowing stop signs on the side streets. And so you know to my seniors, I’m talking to my seniors, I’m going to step it up as far as traffic enforcement.," Bettison said.
Bettison said he's also ready to take on the fun stuff too - like concerts and even a Super Bowl parade.
"Guess what? Guess what? When the Super Bowl was here in 2006, guess who led the public safety coordination and all that? It was me. It was me,"
Bettison said he expects to be around for a long ling and has a goal of increasing community engagement. One of the first things people can expect from him is safety tips on how folks can protect themselves this holiday season from scams and robberies.