James Craig (police chief)

James E. Craig (born 1956) is the head of the Detroit Police Department. He has served in this capacity since 2013. At times Craig has gained widespread attention for his defense of the right of city residents to own guns.

James Craig
Born1956 (age 63–64)
Police career
CountryUnited States
AllegianceCity of Detroit

Craig was raised in Detroit and graduated from Cass Tech High School. He first joined the Detroit Police force in 1977 until 1981. He was laid off that year and went to Los Angeles to work for the LAPD. From 2009 to 2011 he was police chief in Portland, Maine. From 2011 to 2013 he was chief of police in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his tenure with the Cincinnati Police Department, he changed the rank structure, retired the white police uniforms for navy blue uniforms and temporarily removed hats on patrol.

He was originally appointed police chief by Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

When Craig took over as police chief he was replacing Chester Logan, who had held the position on an interim basis since the previous October when Ralph Godbee, who was fired for having sexual relations with a subordinate.[1]

In early 2014 Craig made national headlines by saying more armed citizens would decrease the crime rate.[2][3]

At times Craig has made headlines by describing people involved in mass shootings in the city as "urban terrorists".[4]

In December 2015 Craig said that terrorist are unlikely to attack Detroit because so many residents have concealed carry permits.[5]

In January 2016 Craig was also designated as Detroit's deputy mayor.[6]

As police chief Craig has initiated Project Green Light to provide police live stream of videos to businesses to better respond to crimes there. He has also initiated programs to cut gang membership and large scale sweeps aimed at finding people with outstanding warrants. [7]

In June 2019 Craig was at a press conference shortly after Motor City Pride had white supremacist attendees, where he publicly stated that "They wanted something more substantive than Charlottesville". This was stated after controversy regarding the department escorting the white supremacists.[8]

In August 2019 Craig responded to controversies surrounding facial recognition software being used to identify criminals. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib tweeted out to Detroit PD to stop using facial recognition, to which Craig invited her to come to the Real Time Crime Center, where they operate Project Green Light. [9] The facial recognition policies were changed to be limited to still images of suspects in criminal investigations. [10]

In March 2020, Craig tested positive for COVID-19 during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Michigan.[11]

References
  1. "Former Portland police chief named top cop in Detroit - CentralMaine.com". centralmaine.com. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  2. "Detroit police chief James Craig says more citizens should be armed". Fox News. January 3, 2014. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  3. Woods, Ashley (2014-01-03). "Police Chief James Craig Says What Detroit Needs Is More Guns". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  4. "Detroit Police Chief James Craig defends 'urban terrorist' comment". mlive.com. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  5. "Police chief says armed Detroit would cut terror risk | Detroit News". detroitnews.com. December 1, 2015. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  6. Daily Detroit Staff. "Police Chief James Craig Designated As Detroit's Deputy Mayor". dailydetroit.com. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  7. Ferretti, Christine. "Detroit police partner with gas stations to fight crime". Detroit News. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. Hunter, George. "Detroit chief: Nazis wanted 'Charlottesville 2.0' at Detroit gay pride event". Detroit News. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  9. Hunter, George. "Detroit chief defends facial recognition technology after Tlaib criticism". Detroit News. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  10. "Facial Recognition". City of Detroit. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  11. Vaughn, Jerome; Newman, Eli; McNamara, Russ (March 27, 2020). "Detroit Police Chief James Craig Diagnosed With COVID-19". WDET. Retrieved March 27, 2020.

Sources
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