Thursday, 11:17 a.m. update: Mayor Mike Duggan Thursday morning extended Police Chief James Craig's contract for two years until June 30, 2017.
Then-Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr hired Craig in 2013 for $225,000 a year. There's no change in salary or benefits now.
Craig hopes to finish his law enforcement career as Detroit's top cop, the city says.
“In his first two years, Chief Craig has made remarkable progress bringing down crime and building the department’s partnership with the community. Detroit is a better city today because of him. I’m so grateful that he has made the choice to stay with us and make Detroit his home again for the long term,” Duggan says in a media release.
Original article:
Detroit Police Chief James Craig, hired in 2013 by then-Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr while Dave Bing was mayor, is sticking around.
Craig will get a new contract, Tom Greenwood and George Hunter report in The Detroit News, citing unnamed sources.
Mayor Mike Duggan and Craig will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m.
There had been speculation in recent months whether Craig would stick around. There had been rumors circulating that the Duggan administration thought he was getting paid too much, and that Craig might go to another department.
Some Detroit cops credit Craig with changing the culture of the department for the better.
Most violent crime dropped in the city last year.
-- Allan Lengel
