Since News Hits won’t have Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer to kick around much longer, we thought we would dedicate this entire column to him. But our well-laid plans were interrupted by real news. Sorry, Denny, we promise to get back to you. At the moment, however, you have been overshadowed by your former police chief Benny Napoleon, who testified during a deposition last week that he plans to run for Wayne County executive, according to attorney Jeffrey Ellison.
Ellison represents Martin Singleton in a race discrimination lawsuit against the City of Detroit and several Detroit Police Department supervisors. Singleton, who is African-American, alleges in the suit that he was removed from the department’s Underwater Recovery Team in 1999 because of his race. Martin helped recover drowning victims, cars and other evidence from local waterways for crime investigations. Martin had been with the team since 1987 and is still employed as an officer.
Ellison says he deposed Napoleon because he was the police chief when Singleton was removed from the dive team. During the deposition Ellison says he asked Napoleon, “Do you have any political aspirations, and remember you’re under oath?” According to Ellison, Napoleon answered, “Wayne County executive, you heard it here first. I haven’t announced yet, but I intend to.”
Napoleon, who is the executive vice president of Capri Capital, which provides low-interest loans to commercial developers, could not be reached for comment.
Ann Mullen contributed to News Hits, which is edited by Curt Guyette. He can be reached at 313-202-8004 or [email protected]
