Detroit police chief cites breach of trust as department pulls out of DEA task force

Suspected serial killer worked as informant with DEA

DETROIT – Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the department is pulling out of a task force with the Drug Enforcement Agency because it won’t admit it used Kenyel Brown as an informant.

Brown is accused of killing six people.

“This decision was based on the DEA’s continued refusal to take ownership of Kenyel Brown, who was signed as an informant to the DEA / DPD Task Force,” Craig said. “He was becoming increasingly dangerous. This was not the person you would want to work as an informant.”

Craig said there is a breach of trust between his department and the federal agency.

Court documents show Brown was working as a federal informant just hours after being released by a federal judge during a supervision hearing on Oct. 28, 2019.

“It’s magical that on the same day he was released from supervision is the same day he gets signed by the DEA,” Craig said. “The judge recognized that this person was a danger. He says that in his own words. But then why was he removed from supervision? That’s the question that has not been answered.”

Craig offered further explanation during a news conference on Tuesday. Watch it below.

Brown died last week, days after shooting himself in the head as officers had him cornered in an Oak Park neighborhood.

Read more: Serial murder suspect Kenyel Brown dies days after shooting himself, sources say


About the Authors:

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.