Detroit police chief James Craig makes public appearance, doesn’t mention reports of retirement

DETROIT – James Craig appeared on Fox News Saturday night. It was his first time speaking publicly since reports he would retire broke Friday.

• Local leaders respond on potential retirement, political aspirations of Detroit police chief James Craig
• Sources say Detroit police Chief James Craig set to retire, considering future politics

Sources tell Local 4 he will announce his retirement Monday and that he’s considering a run for Governor.

His fierce support of police came through with tough words for Lebron James, Rep. Maxine Waters and Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

Jeannine Pirro asked why Detroit didn’t see the same level of protests when so many other cities did. Craig said it was about community relationship building and giving officers the needed support.

Related: ‘It’s about transparency and trust’ -- Inside Detroit police’s decision to quickly release body-cam video

“Look, I’m not an advocate for bad police, I demonstrated time and again,” Craig said. “I hold bad police accountable, but the vast majority of our men and women do it right.”

There was no discussion of his potential retirement or political aspirations.

It’s appearances like this that put Craig on on Republican Party’s radar, leading to his thoughts of running against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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