DETROIT — Mayor Mike Duggan is expected to name Deputy Mayor and former Detroit Police executive Todd Bettison as the city's interim police chief, according to a source with knowledge of the transition.

Police Chief James White last week was named CEO of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. The chief, who is a licensed mental health therapist, is a 28-year Detroit police veteran who was appointed Detroit's 43rd police chief in August 2021 after serving as interim chief for two months. White served as an assistant chief from 2012 until August 2020, when he left to head the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

The new interim chief will be announced at a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, city officials said.

Bettison was with the Detroit Police Department for 27 years before leaving in 2022 to become deputy mayor. He started with the department in 1994 as a patrol officer, according to his biography on the city's website, and within five years he was promoted to sergeant, making the rank of lieutenant a year later. He was 1st assistant chief when he left the department.

Since becoming deputy mayor, Bettison has served as Duggan's point person on community issues, including efforts to find jobs for Detroit residents and the "Shot Stoppers" violence intervention program.

Bettison was also responsible for overseeing the protests that lasted throughout the late spring and summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer during a May 25, 2020 arrest. Bettison cried during a press briefing following one of the protests because he said after he'd knelt with demonstrators, someone in the crowd tossed a projectile at the officers, prompting police to deploy tear gas.

"My heart was heavy because I didn't accomplish what I wanted to," Bettison told reporters.

In 2007, when he was a commander at the police department, Bettison was at the center of a controversy after he crashed an unmarked department vehicle into a utility pole on Detroit's east side. Bettison, who was off-duty, later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while impaired, after originally being charged with drunk driving and carrying a weapon while drunk, which were also misdemeanors.

An empty wine bottle was found on the passenger's floorboard of Bettison's car, while three identical bottles lay on the ground outside the vehicle, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. A Detroit police supervisor visited Bettison in the hospital before removing the bottles from the crash scene, Worthy said. The supervisor was charged with tampering with evidence, misconduct in office and neglect of duty, although a jury acquitted him.

Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore, a former Detroit police officer, said Bettison "rose above that incident."

"He's been able to put that behind him," Moore said. "I think Todd is an excellent choice.

The commissioner said he and Bettison were mentored by former Detroit Police Chief and Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who died in December 2020.

"Benny allowed us both to develop our own career paths, and Todd's career has been great," Moore said.

The new interim chief has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Wayne State University and a Graduate Business Certificate from the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State, according to his biography. He is also a graduate of Eastern Michigan University's School of Police Staff and Command, his biography said.

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