Detroit Police Chief James White was selected to serve as CEO of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN).
The mental health authority’s board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to offer White the position, choosing him over DWIHN Team Wellness Center President Michael Hunter. White will now enter contract negotiations, which need approval from the full board. He has served as chief of the Detroit Police Department since 2021.
White participated in two rounds of public interviews, including a marathon session on Monday that ended with a recommendation to hire White by a search committee made up of board members. DWIHN is the state’s largest healthcare safety net organization, serving people with serious mental health issues, disabilities and substance abuse disorders.
“I’m honored to learn that the board has approved my selection as CEO of DWIHN,” White said Wednesday. “I look forward to this journey and taking this meaningful role at such an important time.”
An announcement concerning timing will be made at a later date, White said.
The veteran officer and licensed mental health professional emphasized his commitment to building trust with community members and implementing a strategic plan approved by the board last year.
The Detroit native spent 28 years in law enforcement. As an assistant chief, White worked to steer the police department out of federal oversight that had been in place for 11 years.
White briefly left DPD to lead the Michigan Department of Civil Rights in 2020. He was appointed to interim chief by Mayor Mike Duggan in June 2021 after the departure of former Chief James Craig and was confirmed by the City Council in September 2021.
“James White has been as fine a police chief as any in America,” Duggan said in a statement. “He has led the department with professionalism and integrity and helped make Detroit a safer community. I know he’ll take those same talents and dramatically improve mental health services to the people of Wayne County as the CEO of DWIHN.”
One of White’s first actions after becoming Detroit’s police chief in 2021 was expanding the police department’s strategy to address a rise in mental health emergencies. White created a new unit that dispatches behavioral health specialists from DWIHN alongside officers trained in crisis intervention techniques.
After the departure of the previous CEO, Eric Doeh, in June, a search collected more than 60 applications for the top post. The list was narrowed to eight finalists after eliminating candidates who were not from the Detroit metro area or lacked appropriate experience.
“As a CEO of the Detroit Police Department, I’m not jumping in and out of scout cars, I’m running an organization with 3,000 people,” White said during his Monday interview. “It’s important to bring what I’ve learned to DWIHN, understanding that the people have an impression or an expectation that ‘here comes this chief with a policing mindset,’ which is not the case.”
Detroit activist Taura Brown spoke out against White’s hiring as “cronyism” during a public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting.
Brown said the board should have given more consideration considering the “dumpster fire” White left behind at DPD, citing a failure to release body camera footage in the fatal shooting of a Detroit man while he was being evicted.
White addressed his stance on releasing information demanded by community members during his final interview on Monday.
“Oftentimes there’s a lack of understanding in policing as to why we don’t release certain information, and it can be quite complex,” White said. “As much as I can talk about the fact that there was a shooting, I can’t release any information because it’ll compromise the investigation into the case.”