Benny Napoleon
Benny N. Napoleon | |
|---|---|
| Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan | |
| Assumed office 2009 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 Detroit |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Mercy College of Detroit |
| Profession | Police officer |
Benny Napoleon (born 1952) is an American police officer, the current Sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan and a candidate for Election to Mayor of Detroit.
A Democrat, Benny entered Detroit politics in 2013, announcing his intentions to run for mayor in the city's non-partisan primary to replace Dave Bing, who announced he would not seek re-election after the appointment of an emergency manager for the city[1][2].
Early Life
Benny Napoleon Born and raised in Detroit.
Napoleon was recruited to the police academy in 1975 during Mayor Coleman A. Young’s drive to diversify Detroit’s police force. He was rapidly rising through the ranks of the Detroit Police Department (DPD), as one of the youngest ever of each rank. Napoleon attended Mercy College of Detroit full-time at night, earning his undergraduate and law degrees. In 1995, at the age of 43, Napoleon was appointed Chief of Police, the youngest in Detroit history and the youngest of any major american city.
In 2001, Napoleon retired from DPD to join the largest African American owned real-estate firm in America – Capri Capital – as executive vice president of business development and outreach for Capri’s multi-family housing sector.
Police career
As Chief of Police, Benny developed and executed an unprecedented restructuring plan that led to a 30 percent reduction in violent crime at a time when major crimes appeared to be spiraling out of control. He had a “no tolerance policy” for corruption, emphasized by his move to call on the FBI to conduct an independent investigation on his own officers when drugs mysteriously disappeared from the police evidence room. That investigation led to the arrest and conviction of all DPD personnel involved. And when the community questioned incidents of police shootings of civilians, he partnered again with federal authorities for another independent investigation.
In 2004, he was appointed Assistant Wayne County Executive, responsible for government relations, labor relations, and homeland security. In this role, he was responsible for establishing and sustaining working relationships with county commissioners, other elected officials, and labor organizations in order to move the county’s agenda. During his tenure, Benny was also responsible for securing federal grants for local homeland security preparedness in Wayne County. Benny led efforts, working with 42 cities within the county, to make first responder communications inter-operable in case of a security threat.
Wayne County Sheriff
He was appointed Wayne County Sheriff in 2009, retained in 2010 and re-elected in 2012. As Sheriff, Benny has been continually forced to do more with less funding. He restructured the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office to reduce operational costs by $30 million without compromising public safety. The cost-cutting measures include restructuring the absentee job pool to slash critical overtime expenses and expanding the tether program for non-violent offenders from 50 inmates to as many as 600[3]. The tether program was expanded as a cost-saving measure and to combat the fact that the Wayne County Commission historically funds the county jail at 40% of the actual funds it costs to house 2,800 inmates. Further, he led a crackdown on burglaries in two Detroit neighborhoods through the short-lived SCOUT program, a successful neighborhood watch program he ended because of budget priorities[1]. He also faced criticism over no-bid contracts[2], a high number of political appointees[3], and his failure to ever successfully manage a budget [4].
Mayoral election
Benny has announce himself as candidate for mayoral office in Detroit after Dave Bing, had to resigned because of Detroit bankruptcy.
See also
External links
References
- ^ Matt Helms (March 26, 2013). "Benny Napoleon kicks off bid to be Detroit's next mayor". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ^ http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bing-wont-seek-re-election-detroit-mayor
- ^ Benny Napoleon: Public Safety Not Properly Funded in Wayne County