Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced that he has named Todd Bettison as his new deputy mayor to oversee many aspects of city government.
“Todd Bettison has a remarkable ability to work positively with every type of community group to improve the city,” says Duggan. “His leadership of the Neighborhood Police Officer program was a major part of changing the way the Detroit Police Department relates to Detroiters.”
As deputy mayor, Bettison will fill in for Duggan if the mayor is incapacitated or otherwise unable to fulfill his duties. Given his extensive law enforcement background, Bettison will oversee all enforcement-related activities in the city, from police to blight enforcement and more.
Throughout his career at DPD, Bettison has been one of the fastest rising members of the department. He first started in 1994 as a patrol officer. Within five years, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant and just one year later to the rank of lieutenant, each time scoring the highest of any candidate in the department. Bettison’s rapid rise continued as he was promoted to the ranks of inspector, captain, commander and eventually deputy chief in 2017.
“I truly believe in servant leadership and being given this opportunity means I’ll be able to serve the people of the City of Detroit in new ways and in new areas,” says Bettison. “There is so much more we can accomplish for the people of this city if we are able to find common ground with those members of the community that disagree with us. I believe the best solutions are the ones developed collaboratively.”
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University (WSU) and his graduate business certificate from WSU’s Mike Ilitch School of Business.
