DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Police Department officially has a new leader. Tuesday at the city clerk's office, former Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison took an oath to the department and was sworn in.
Bettison was appointed as the city's deputy mayor in 2022. Before that, he worked for Detroit's police department for 27 years - rising to the 1st Assistant Chief position.
The change in leadership comes after former Chief James White took a position with the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.
Bettison says the previous administration left him to start on good footing as the city marked historic lows in violent crime last year.
“We’re trending in the right direction. Homicides right now are at 18% below where they were last year this time. Sexual assaults are down 11% compared to last year, robberies down 16%," said Bettison.
The interim chief says he plans to continue the work that was taking place under Chief White's administration like community policing and crime intervention efforts. He also mentioned his commitment to communicating with media and the community and plans to bring more traffic enforcement to the neighborhoods.
Bettison mentioned continuing to keep downtown safe, investing in more technology like Shot Spotter, a program he helped lobby for from the mayor's office. He also spoke about the city's crime community violence intervention program that he helped to spearhead while serving as Deputy Mayor.
Neighbors say they have been able to see a difference in crime across the city.
"Well, actually it’s been better. The crime went down," said Marcus McKeever who lives on the city's east side.
"We don’t have a lot of break-ins, the dope houses are starting to disappear. So (police are) doing a decent job. Could they do better? Sure, but it has to do with how much the citizens are willing to participate with them," said Detroit neighbor John Dooley.
One person who spoke with 7 News Detroit off camera says she hopes to see improved response times as the new chief takes hold of the reins.
"We are making headway," said Sandra Turner-Handy.
Turner-Handy has been living near Denby High School for the last 25 years. She says for more than a decade she has been working with Detroit Police to deter crime in the area and make things safer for students there.
"I have been working on safety efforts in this community under the Denby Neighborhood Alliance since 2013 when our young people at Denby High School said that was the number one issue they had with living in the community was safety," said Turner-Handy. "It is the most violent zip code in the city and we have lived with that narrative for a long time and we are in active work of getting rid of that narrative."
Turner-Handy says in the last few years, the city was able to invest in community policing efforts which helped jump-start programs like their radio patrol and fund other programs that residents were doing with their own money. As a part of the radio patrol, community members drive around their neighborhood while maintaining a direct line of communication with police to alert them of criminal activities happening.
Turner-Handy says she hopes to see more community policing efforts being supported under Bettison.
"Our city will not return to what it once was but what it needs to be in order to retain the population we have, bring in new population, and make sure our young adults want to stay here in a clean, safe, and healthy city," said Turner-Handy.
Chief Bettison says although interim is in his current title, he's planning to stay in this role for the long haul.
"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 and so, I’m going to be swimming all up and down your street," said Bettison.
The search for a permanent chief is expected to continue through the end of the year and include candidates from outside of the department as well as Bettison. The city is expected to make a final decision in the new year.
