Now-Colonel James F. Grady II, a 25-year police veteran in Michigan, will assume the role as the state’s top cop after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promoted the longtime state police captain to serve as the director of the Michigan State Police.
While the appointment is still subject to advice and consent from the Michigan Senate, Whitmer’s appointment was made to replace Col. Joe Gasper, who announced his retirement from the post after serving in different capacities for Michigan police departments for 25 years.
Grady, the 20th Director of the Michigan State Police, will become just the third Black person to assume the rank, following in the footsteps of Col. Tadarial J. Sturdivant and Col. Eddie Washington Jr., both of whom served under former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
“After 25 years, he has earned the respect of troopers across the department and community leaders throughout the state, including in southeast Michigan where he spent the majority of his service,” Whitmer said in a statement.
“He has a knack for bringing everyone together to solve problems, and our state is a better place for it. He will do a great job leading our state’s top law enforcement agency.”
Grady called appointment the appointment and incredible honor and said: “We will continue to make sure that the men and women of MSP have what they need to do their job of protecting Michiganders in communities across the state. It’s a tough but rewarding career. I will work every day to earn the trust and respect of my colleagues and the good people of Michigan.”
Grady began his career in 1998 with the state police, serving as a trooper in Adrian and Detroit before he eventually became a detective within southeast Michigan posts. He became section commander of the department’s Fraud Investigation team in 2015 and was the assistant division commander for the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division in 2018. He was promoted to captain and commander of MSP’s training division in 2020 and has spent the past few years training 391 new troopers across eight recruit school classes, plus 21 motor carrier graduates.
Grady is a Wayne County resident and holds a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and criminology from Eastern Michigan University. He is currently working toward a Master of Business Administration from Cleary University.
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