The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) -- When he named her police chief, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said the “interim” in front of Ella Bully-Cummings’ title was only a formality.
He meant it. Without announcement, Bully-Cummings was sworn-in as chief on Dec. 4, one month to the day after she was made interim chief, Dave Manney, a spokesman for Kilpatrick, told The Detroit News.
Kilpatrick said in November that he didn’t plan to conduct a national search to replace Jerry A. Oliver Sr., who resigned Oct. 31.
Oliver was detained Oct. 18 because he failed to declare at Detroit Metropolitan Airport that he had a loaded, unregistered handgun in his checked luggage.
He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor gun charge, which will be expunged from his record if he successfully completes his 90-day probation.
Oliver stayed on the city’s payroll through Dec. 31 to help with the transition, Manney said.
Oliver’s lawyer, Anthony Chambers, said Wednesday he didn’t know if the former chief had found a new job.
Bully-Cummings is Detroit’s first female police chief and has been the subject of hundreds of articles nationwide.
In an interview this week, Bully-Cummings said she is spending much of her time on issues connected to two federal court orders, known as consent decrees, aimed at reforming the police department.
After a 30-month Justice Department investigation that found serious violations of citizens’ civil rights, the city agreed to a series of sweeping changes over the next five years.