James Craig (police chief)
James Craig | |
|---|---|
Craig in 2021 | |
| Chief of the Detroit Police Department | |
| In office July 1, 2013 – June 1, 2021 | |
| Mayor | Dave Bing Mike Duggan |
| Preceded by | Ralph Godbee Chester Logan (interim) |
| Succeeded by | James E. White |
| Chief of the Cincinnati Police Department | |
| In office August 2011 – June 2013 | |
| Mayor | Mark Mallory |
| Preceded by | Tom Streicher |
| Succeeded by | Jeffrey Blackwell |
| Chief of the Portland (Maine) Police Department | |
| In office May 2009 – August 2011 | |
| Mayor | Jill Duson Nick Mavodones |
| Preceded by | Timothy Burton |
| Succeeded by | Michael Sauschuck |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1956 (age 69–70) |
| Party | Democratic (before 2011) Republican (2011–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | West Coast University (BS) University of Phoenix (MPA) |
| Website | Campaign website |
James E. Craig (born 1956) is an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as the chief of three municipal police departments: the Portland (Maine) Police Department (2009–11), the Cincinnati Police Department (2011–13), and the Detroit Police Department (2013–21). Prior to serving as a department chief, Craig had worked as an officer in the Detroit Police Department from 1977 to 1981 and in the Los Angeles Police Department from 1981 to 2009. At both Portland and Cincinnati, he was the first Black person to have served as the chief of police. Craig's tenure as Detroit police chief was the second-longest of any chief in the department's history.
A member of the Republican Party, after departing his position as chief of the Detroit Police Department Craig has had several unsuccessful campaigns for elected offices in the state of Michigan. In 2022 Craig was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, unsuccessfully fielding a write-in campaign after disqualified from the ballot for the Republican primary. Craig launched a campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Michigan, but withdrew prior to the primary. Craig ran in the nonpartisan 2025 Detroit mayoral election.