The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners elected Lisa Carter of District 6 as the new chair and mayoral appointee Eva Garza Dewaelsche as the vice chair during its weekly Thursday meeting.
Effective July 1, 2017, Carter will succeed Chair Willie E. Bell of District 4. The role of Vice Chair has been vacant since Ricardo Moore of District 7 resigned for professional reasons.
The board voted Thursday during its evening community meeting at Marathon Petroleum Company, 1001 Oakwood Boulevard. Under its bylaws, the BOPC elects two officers, a Chair and a Vice Chair. The officers serve for one year and may not serve consecutive terms.
Both Carter and Dewaelsche are lifelong Detroit residents, are graduates of the Detroit public schools and have backgrounds as sworn law enforcement officers.
Carter is a former Wayne County Sheriff who retired at the rank of lieutenant after a 27-year career. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Concordia University and is a graduate of the Eastern Michigan University’s School of Police Staff and Command Program and the Central Michigan Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Institute. She currently is the Research Assistant-Member Coordinator for the AmeriCorps Urban Safety Project at the Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies. Detroit voters in District 6 elected Carter to a four-year term on the Board of Police Commissioners in November 2013. She previously has served as vice chair and as chair.
Dewaelsche, who began a banking career during high school, is a former Detroit Police Officer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in education from Wayne State University. She currently serves as the President and CEO of SER Metro-Detroit Jobs for Progress Inc., a workforce development organization established over 45 years ago with operations in Detroit and in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania. Mayor Mike Duggan appointed Dewaelsche to the Board of Police Commissioners; she also served an earlier term as an appointee under Mayor Dennis Archer.
ATT00003Created by City Charter in 1974, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners has supervisory authority and oversight over the Police Department. Under the 2012 Charter, the Board is comprised of 11 civilian members; Detroiters elect seven members by district (the seat for District 7 is vacant); the mayor appoints four at-large members.
The current members are Willie E. Bell, Elizabeth Brooks, Willie E. Burton, Lisa Carter, Reginald Crawford, Eva Garza Dewaelsche, Conrad L. Mallet Jr., Derrick Sanders, Richard Shelby and Bishop Edgar L. Vann.
The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meets weekly on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, 1301 Third Avenue, except for the second Thursday of the month when it holds community meetings at 6:30 p.m.
For the Board meeting schedule, video, minutes and other information, visit the website at detroitmi.gov/boards/boardofpolicecommissioners.
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