Detroit City Council officially approved the hiring of Todd Bettision as the chief of the Detroit Police Department.
It comes just over a week after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan recommended the council appoint Bettison, who has been the interim chief.
Our partners at Outlier Media and the Detroit Documenters were at the city council meeting.
"Today is a day of celebration. Todd Bettison came to this city as a teenager. He joined the Detroit Police Department more than 30 years ago. Nobody gave him anything. He worked his way up the ranks one step at a time until he became the first assistant chief to James White," Duggan said during the press conference last week
Hear more from Duggan and Bettison in the videos below
Bettison was sworn in as interim police chief in November, taking over for former Detroit Police Chief James white, who left to become the president and CEO of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.
"You exemplify what an officer is. You exemplify what a chief should be, and I'm proud of you. I honor you and I'm with you," Zoe Kennedy, the executive director of FORCE Detroit, said at the event.
Watch more from Zoe Kennedy in the video below
Last month, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners interviewed three final candidates for the role. There were five finalists, however, according to our partners at Outlier Media and the Detroit Documenters, two candidates did not move forward with their interviews.
Bettison and Joel Fitzgerald were interviewed in person at the Jan. 30 meeting, while Joshua Wallace was interviewed via Zoom. According to the Detroit Documenters, the interviews lasted about 15-25 minutes each and several questions were asked.
Watch below: Todd Bettison starts as interim police chief at Detroit police department
When he was sworn in as interim chief, Bettson said he planned 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.
"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.
