James Craig (police chief)

Craig was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served as a reserve police officer at the time of the 1967 Detroit riot, when James Craig was in fifth grade. He graduated from Cass Technical High School and joined the Detroit Police Department in 1977. ==Early police career in Detroit and Los Angeles==

Craig first worked at the Detroit Police Department from 1977 until he was laid off in 1981. After being laid off, he went to Los Angeles to work for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for 28 years. During part of his tenure in Los Angeles, Craig served as president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, a Black officer's association with a membership of approximately 500. As president of the association, Craig downplayed accusations of institutional racism within the LAPD, commenting several weeks after the beating of Rodney King, "I believe that there are individuals who have racist attitudes, but racism is not widespread throughout the department." Several members of the association disagreed with this statement by Craig, and left the association in protest of it. During his tenure in Los Angeles, Craig ascended ranks to become a captain. He served as a commanding officer, overseeing many of the more violent areas of the city, and received credit for crime-reduction using community-partnerships strategies that received praise for being "innovative". He ended his LAPD career as the commanding officer for West Los Angeles. ==Chief of the Portland (Maine) Police Department (2009–11) ==

From 2009 to 2011, Craig was police chief for the Portland Police Department in Portland, Maine, leaving the LAPD to take the appointment. His annual salary in Portland ($91,000) was lower than his salary had been at the end of his LAPD career ($170,000). Additionally, Portland's department had fewer officers than the West Lost Angeles Area of the LAPD the Craig had previously headed. When Craig was appointed, Portland had experienced growth in its Black population due to an influx of refugee populations from Sudan and Somalia, yet only had four black officers in a 122-officer department. Craig, as an African American chief, was regarded as lending credibility to the department's messaging on criticisms relating to racial disparity and its actions towards adressing them, which had increasing become a challenge for the department. Incidentally, only days before Craig was sworn-in as chief, an officer had controversially shot a member of the refugee population. During his tenure, a CompStat-style process was implemented in the department, emphasizing command accountability and problem-solving. Some who praise his tenure have characterized this as contributing to a 10% violent crime reduction in the city. Craig also established a "Chief’s Community Advisory Board" to advise the department's community policing efforts. One of Craig's responsibilities as chief was to approve concealed carry pistol licenses. He later recounted that it was during this time that his thinking on politics made him decide to privately identify as a Republican, as he believed Republicans more aligned with his newly-acquired strong support for individual rights to gun ownership, viewing commonplace gun ownership by law-abiding citizens to be a deterrent to crime. At the time he was chief in Portland, the federal government (under the early Obama Administration) and several state governments at the time were considering reducing sentences for some drug offenses as part of greater efforts to address racial disparities caused by sentencing. One such move under consideration at the time had been lowering the sentencing for certain crimes connected to crack cocaine (for which persons of color are a disproportionate share of convicts) to be more in-line with the less harsh penalties of similar crimes connected to powder cocaine. However, Craig instead advocated that rather than lower crack cocaine sentences, Maine should instead harshen its sentences for powder cocaine crimes and reclassify several misdemeanor crimes connected to powder cocaine as felony crimes. Craig's suggestion was derided by Stanley Gerzofsky (the Maine Senate chair of the Maine Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee), who opposed enhancing drug crimes and argued that past enhancement of drug crimes in Maine had resulted in an ongoing issue of over-incarceration. ==Chief of the Cincinnati Police Department (2011–13)==

From 2011 to 2013, Craig was chief of police for the Cincinnati Police Department in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the department's first African American chief. He was also considered Cincinnati's first police chief not to hail from the city prior to being appointed. During his tenure, the city's crime rate was at its lowest since 2000. Craig received praise for how he engaged with leaders of various community groups. As chief, Craig received praise from the local Fraternal Order of Police for alterations he made to the department's officer uniforms, and changes to the policy on the length of work shifts. Craig has received criticism for not acknowledging the impacts that institutional racism might have in the department, something which some organizations and community advocates in Cincinnati viewed to have been a missed opportunity. One such organization is the Sentinel Police Association, which represented the department's Black officers. Phil Black, the president of the association during Craig's tenure, criticized him for having failed to take action "level the playing field" within the department or address unfair disciplinary practices within the department. Other leaders of the association have criticized Craig's tenure for a lack of promotion of minority officers, arguing that when Craig appointed minority officers to new roles, he mainly only shuffled roles held by female and Black officers that were already in senior roles, as opposed to giving promotion to minority rank-and-file officers. Craig departed Cincinnati after two years in order to accept appointment to the chief of police post in Detroit. He was succeeded as Cincinnati's chief by Jeffery Blackwell. == Chief of the Detroit Police Department (2013–21) ==

in 2014 After he had initially worked with the Detroit Police Department earlier in his career, Craig had said he wouldn't go back to work for them unless he was offered the role of police chief. He was appointed police chief in 2013 by Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr. He replaced Chester Logan, who had held the position on an interim basis since the previous October when his predecessor, Ralph Godbee, was fired for having sexual relations with a subordinate. Craig officially took office on July 1, 2013. Craig held this additional role for only a brief period of time. Craig claimed in 2017 that crime was steadily decreasing since his taking office in 2013, with data from a new software system employed by Detroit showing a 5 percent decrease in violent crime in 2016. The Federal Bureau of Investigation disputed his claim, and suggested violent crime had actually increased 15.7 percent between 2015 and 2016. Craig and others rejected their assessment. Detroit reported a 19 percent increase in homicide cases in 2020, with non-deadly shootings up 53 percent, though this was part of a trend of increasing crime nationwide, with homicide cases also rising above 50 percent in cities such as Boston and Chicago. In Craig's last five months as police chief (January 1-May 31, 2021), homicides in Detroit were up 27% and non-fatal shootings increased 44%. Craig blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd riots for the increase in crime. alleging that the two federal agencies had used Kenyel Brown as an informant. County Prosecutor Kym Worthy responded by suggesting that the police department's investigations were often inadequate, In December 2015, Craig said that terrorists are unlikely to attack Detroit because so many residents have concealed carry permits. In 2022, Duggan criticized Craig's record as police chief, noting that violent crime in Detroit did not decline until after the appointment, in June 2021, of James White as Craig's successor. However, questions were raised about response times varying by neighborhood. In February 2019, Police Commissioner Willie Burton questioned Craig and others about reporting in a Deadline Detroit news investigation that indicated that lower-income neighborhoods experienced worse response times than wealthier ones. Craig refuted the methods of Deadline Detroit's analysis, arguing that the greater amount of crimes in the city's poorest neighborhoods would explain worse response times, arguing that more crime, "means more runs, which take longer." As police chief, Craig initiated "Project Green Light", a program aimed to give quicker police attention to businesses. George Floyd protests On May 28, (three days after George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvinan officer of the Minneapolis Police Department), Craig voiced support for the Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo's decision to quickly dismiss all four involved officers involved in Floyd's murder. Craig remarked that "preservation of trust in our communities is always a key mandate," and described Floyd's murder as "horrific and senseless". He additionally opined that the video of Floyd and Chauvin presented sufficient evidence for Chauvin to be charged with murder, and that Chauvin should be arrested on such charges. Amid the national George Floyd protests, which included protests in Detroit, Craig enforced a curfew that Mayor Duggan ordered. Craig stated that he intended to support protester's First Amendment rights, and that the Detroit Police Department would "continue to support the message" that most protesters were representing, but also that the Department would not support property damage. Craig characterized the majority of individuals at protests in Detroit as conducting themselves in a peaceful and a non-violent manner. He called for such individuals to steer clear of the city, remarking, "my message is simple. If you want to disrupt, stay home and disrupt in your own community". ACLU Michigan published an opinion piece characterizing Craig's previous words of support for peaceful demonstrators as having been hallow, writing that with the release of the documentary, "the emptiness of [Craig's] words has been laid bare." The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners ruled for the facial recognition policies to be limited to still images of suspects in criminal investigations, which Craig welcomed and heralded. Craig opposed calls from the First Trump Administration for the police department to assist in federal immigration enforcement, telling the Detroit City Council, ==Political campaigns==

2022 Michigan gubernatorial election In May 2021, it was reported Craig would be announcing his retirement from the Detroit police. He had previously met with Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, chair of the Republican Governors Association, and other Republican officials in talks about a potential run for governor of Michigan in 2022 against Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer. On June 1, 2021, Craig retired after 44 years of service in law enforcement. On September 14, 2021, Craig attempted to announce his bid for Governor on Belle Isle, but was unable to be heard due to the presence of protestors who surrounded him on the podium, chanting "No justice, no peace, James Craig is still police." and declined to comment on Trump's claim that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from him. Meshawn Maddock (co-chair-elect of the Michigan Republican Party) brought Craig to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago in mid-2021 in an effort to earn his favor. Craig, however, was passed-over by Trump for an endorsement. In May 2022, amid questions over the legitimacy of some signatures on his nominating petitions, Craig acknowledged possible fraud by signature gatherers. State election officials ruled that Craig, alongside four other Republican primary candidates, had failed to submit enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot, thus rendering him ineligible to compete for the party nomination. Craig filed a lawsuit in a bid to get on the primary ballot, but the suit was rejected by the Michigan Court of Claims. Craig then launched a write-in campaign for the Republican primary nomination, but wasn't able to garner more than 2.1% of the vote with the effort. 2024 U.S. Senate campaign On October 3, 2023, Craig announced he would be running for the United States Senate in 2024. He faced fellow Republican Mike Rogers, Nikki Snyder, and several other candidates for the Republican nomination. On February 13, 2024, he announced that he was suspending his campaign. He, however, expressed interest in running for Detroit mayor in 2025. 2025 mayoral election In March 2025, Craig announced his candidacy for mayor of Detroit, entering a field of candidates seeking to be elected as the successor of Duggan (who is not seeking re-election). The ballot in the election is nonpartisan, and the election will consist of a primary election followed by a general election between the top-two finishers. Craig is the only candidate in the mayoral election who affiliates as a Republican. As a candidate, Craig has not distanced himself from his affiliation with the Republican Party or his past endorsements of Presidential Trump's campaigns (which all had received very little of the presidential vote in Detroit). Rather, Craig has touted these as strengths, arguing that he it would enable him to greater advocate to Trump on behalf of the city more effectively than other mayoral candidates might, touting himself as offering the city a "direct link" to the Trump White House. Craig is regarded to have launched his campaign with the benefit of having some of the strongest name recognition among mayoral contenders. He was regarded to be one of the three best-known names to in the field of candidates, along with City Council President Mary Sheffield and pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr. ==Political views and ideology==

Party affiliation and ideology Craig considers himself to be a conservative and is a member of the Republican Party. He has endorsed presidential candidacies of Donald Trump, While serving as a police chief in Portland, Cincinnati, and Detroit, Craig kept his personal political affiliation private, Without offering alternatives to her actions, Craig has offered criticism of Whitmer's actions in restricting in-person school instruction and restricting the operations of non-essential businesses during periods of the pandemic. Craig has criticized government "handouts" (federal assistance), characterizing them to establish a culture of dependency that he believes is especially pronounced in Black communities. Craig has also characterized the Democratic Party as promoting "victim mentality" and "liberal wokeism" that he has argued poses a threat to America's future. Craig has recounted these as being views he only adopted in the years after he decided he would privately consider himself a Republican. In late 2021, while running for governor, Craig voiced opposition to critical race theory, calling it "racist indoctrination" while speaking at an event at Hillsdale College. Craig has taken a stance against abortion rights, supporting bans on abortions. He also defends the enforcement of voter ID laws As police chief, Craig had expressed apparent support for the LGBTQ community, delivering remarks at a 2018 Black LGBTQ event in which he declared, "I love each and every one of you. We’re here for you". However, in April 2021, Craig voiced support for the prospective adoption of legislation in Michigan similar to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislation, arguing that Michigan should go further than the initial Florida legislation and restrict any classroom discussion of sexuality or gender identity through the sixth grade. == Personal life ==

Craig has one son and daughter and has been married 4 times to 3 different women. His son, OVO James Craig, is a hip-hop artist. ==References==