Law / Politics
Benny Napoleon
1955–2020 · police chief, lawyer, Wayne County sheriff
Detroit-born minister's son who rose from patrolman to Detroit police chief (1998–2001), served as Wayne County sheriff (2009–2020) and ran for mayor in 2013.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 65- Birth name
- Benny Nelson Napoleon
- Also known as
- Benny N. Napoleon
- Detroit years
- 1955–2020
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Benny Napoleon was born in Detroit in 1955, one of seven children of a minister, and graduated from Cass Technical High School. He joined the Detroit Police Department in 1975 and, while rising through the ranks, earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Detroit Mercy and a law degree at the Detroit College of Law; he also played on the department's basketball team in international police tournaments in Ontario. Mayor Dennis Archer named him chief of police in 1998, and he led the department until 2001. In 2004 he became assistant Wayne County executive, and in 2009 he was appointed and then elected Wayne County sheriff, a post he held for more than a decade. In 2013 he ran for mayor, finishing second to write-in candidate Mike Duggan in both the primary and the general election. An FBI corruption probe wiretapped him in 2017, but he was never charged. He died of COVID-19 in December 2020, aged 65.
Highlights
- Chief of the Detroit Police Department, 1998–2001
- Wayne County sheriff, 2009–2020
- Runner-up in the 2013 Detroit mayoral election
- Graduate of Cass Tech, University of Detroit Mercy and Detroit College of Law
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1969–1973
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's selective public high school, from which he graduated.