Detroit Police Chief James White has been named president of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, the largest of Michigan’s regional behavioral or mental health networks, reports the Detroit News. “We are very pleased with the choice of Mr. White to continue leading DWIHN and we feel confident that he is the right person for the critical job of leading this organization as we enter this next phase of growth to help our region’s most vulnerable citizens,” said board chairperson Dr. Cynthia Taueg. White is a licensed mental health therapist. It was not immediately clear how long White would stay on as chief or who would replace him.
White, a 26-year Detroit police veteran, was named police chief in August 2021 after serving as interim chief for two months after the departure of Chief James Craig, who unsuccessfully pursued the Republican nomination for governor. White served as an assistant chief from 2012 until August 2020, when he left to head the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Violent crime in the city dropped each year during White’s tenure as chief, with 14,497 reported violent incidents in 2021, 12,844 in 2022 and 12,673 last year. As of last Wednesday, violent crime in 2024 was down 8% from the same period in 2023. There were 252 homicides in 2023, the lowest since 1966. This year, there were 171 homicides in the city as of Wednesday, down 18.6% from the 210 homicides committed during the same period in 2023. During White’s tenure, mental health-related calls skyrocketed because of the COVID pandemic and other factors. Through July 2023, Detroit police officers made an average of 40 mental health-related runs a day, up from 20 a day in 2020.
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