Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison denied any wrongdoing after the Board of Police Commissioners formally threw its support behind him amid an ongoing investigation into his recent actions by the Office of Inspector General.
Appointed Commissioner Darryl Woods moved to formalize the board’s support of Bettison while he faces scrutiny over his interactions with Detroit activist Jahdante Smith, who posted potentially compromising photos of Mayor Mary Sheffield and her former boyfriend, Marvin Walker. Bettison called Smith last month to ask him to remove the photos from his social media account. He declined. Smith was later detained and his phone was seized by police executing a warrant in what the department says was an unrelated case.
Some residents have posted on social media calling for Bettison to step down, while some former Detroit law enforcement leaders have said he will likely have to resign.
“I’m not going to resign. I don’t feel that I did anything wrong,” Bettison told BridgeDetroit Thursday after the BOPC meeting. “If the citizens listen to the full conversation (between Bettison and Smith), they’ll have a better appreciation for it. And I look forward to going through the investigative process.”
Bettison said he understands the OIG’s “obligation” to conduct its review, noting, “When a criminal complaint is made, I have an obligation to look into it, regardless of who they are.
“And so, I’m going to continue to do my job. I did nothing wrong, and when the totality of the circumstances come out and is revealed, I believe that the community will see what I see and will agree that I did nothing wrong,” Bettison told BridgeDetroit.
Optics ‘not good’
The BOPC vote carried through, with District 7 Commissioner Victoria Camille as the only board member abstaining.
“We already voted to recommend him for appointment (to chief),” Camille said in a statement to BridgeDetroit. “As long as we don’t rescind that recommendation, our support of him staying in the position is assumed. The motion was unnecessary.”
“The chief don’t serve under our pleasure anymore,” Woods told BridgeDetroit after the vote. “He serves at the pleasure of the mayor, but we just have confidence in all the work that he has done thus far to be able to help the citizens of the city of Detroit.”
Thursday’s vote at the weekly meeting raises concerns over whether the civilian oversight body that supervises the Detroit Police Department can carry out its duties without bias. The board, which was authorized by the City Charter in 1974 and is meant to represent the concerns of Detroit residents, serves to hold police accountable.
Former District 7 Police Commissioner William Davis, who spoke in favor of Bettison during Thursday’s meeting, said he thinks the board’s action was “premature.”
“Once the (OIG) investigation is over, I can see them maybe affirming their confidence in him,” Davis told BridgeDetroit. “But you don’t know what’s going to happen in an investigation. I thought it was premature to do that. I didn’t think that was the right thing to do at the time. The optics are definitely not good.”
Davis, who served two terms on the board, added that the BOPC should be more focused on oversight and less focused on being in total agreement with the police department.
“You know, like I say, the board’s function is supposed to be there for oversight and to encourage investigations into possible problems,” he said.
During the meeting, Bettison received fervent support from several public commenters and commissioners.
One regular commenter, who calls himself “Black Bag,” said Bettison is “a very honorable man” and a “stand-up, one hundred individuals.”
Some other commenters criticized Bettison during the meeting for claiming he asked Smith to take down Sheffield’s photos in a personal capacity, “as Todd,” and not a professional one. This included Smith, who maintains he has no personal connection to the chief.
District 2 Commissioner Lavish T. Williams spoke Thursday about a time before Bettison was chief when he called Williams to advise him to take down a social media post.
“He gave me some advice, told me how it did not look good for me to have that up as an individual,” Williams said. “He’s still a human. He’s still an everyday person, and the way that he moves around the community since I met him has been just as an everyday person without wearing a title.”
Smith spoke during Thursday’s public comment via Zoom, reiterating that the chief is not his friend, criticizing him for past unrelated exchanges and claiming that Bettison reached out multiple times to have him remove the photos. Smith was abruptly cut off on instruction from board Chair Robert Jones with more than 40 seconds remaining in his allotted two-minute public comment time. Woods later told BridgeDetroit that Smith violated procedural rules and that’s why his comment was cut off early.
This comes after the BOPC faced public backlash last month over its consideration to end live virtual commenting at meetings, and reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accessibility when it withdrew that motion a week later. Jones
declined to comment, and Smith did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
At least one commenter expressing support for Bettison was allowed to speak for several seconds beyond the allotted two-minute window.
Bettison became a Detroit patrol officer in 1994 and, within five years, was promoted to sergeant, and became a lieutenant a year after that. He later was an inspector, captain, commander and, ultimately, deputy chief in 2017.
He was first appointed as police chief in 2024 under former mayor Mike Duggan after spending two years as Duggan’s deputy mayor. Sheffield reappointed Bettison after taking office.
Bettison did not speak to the OIG probe during the board meeting. The meeting is the first Bettison has attended since July 23, according to approved meeting minutes and transcripts on the BOPC website.
Commissioner Scotty Boman said Thursday he believed Bettison had good intentions when he made the call to Smith to ask him to remove the photos of Sheffield and Walker.
“However, I will also say that when you are chief of police, your words carry a different weight, and there is going to be a tendency — whether or not it was purely intended as a friendly piece of advice, which I sincerely believe that’s what you intended it to be — it could be interpreted by some as an offer one can’t refuse,” Bowman said. “Just to be cautious moving forward, I guess is all I’m going to say.”
The OIG probe
The OIG’s office confirmed to BridgeDetroit on Sept. 11 that Bettison and “his actions related to social media posts” are under investigation. The OIG’s office has declined to comment further on its investigation, including when it was initiated or more specifics of what is being reviewed. The OIG’s jurisdiction extends to all city employees, contractors and those seeking to do business with the city.
DPD detained Smith and seized his cell phone on Aug. 19, two weeks after Bettison spoke with Smith about photos of Sheffield and Walker that Smith posted to social media. At the time, Smith was being investigated by DPD for an unrelated incident after a resident filed a complaint with police alleging that Smith threatened her.
Smith contends the seizure of his phone was a form of retaliation for his refusal to take down the photos he had posted of Sheffield and Walker.
Sheffield has denied any involvement with the incident. Walker has not responded to multiple requests for comment from BridgeDetroit. He was also being investigated for an unrelated incident by Detroit Police.
The Detroit Police Department is no longer handling any cases involving Walker and Smith, spokesperson Jasmin Barmore said earlier this week.
“We transferred all cases involving Jahdante Smith and Marvin Walker to an outside law enforcement agency,” she said. Barmore declined to say what agency would be taking over and declined, on behalf of the police department, to comment on the OIG investigation.
An internal police document obtained by the media said “the Public Corruption side of the case” had been referred to the Detroit office of the FBI. The FBI has said it cannot confirm or deny whether it was investigating.
