Fortunately, Kentucky Girl’s tweet that the idiotic Police Chief of Motor City was going to fire an officer for notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned our to be superseded by time; the officers in question will receive only thirty-day unpaid suspensions rather than losing their jobs, losing their jobs for obeying the law!
Detroit police chief won’t terminate two officers who contacted Border Patrol amid traffic stops
By Paula Wethington | Friday, February 20, 2026 | 5:10 PM EST | CBS Detroit
Reversing a stance he publicly took previously in the case, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison says he will concur with a 30-day suspension of two officers and no longer pursue their terminations.
Bettison issued that statement on Friday, following up on Thursday’s vote from the Board of Police Commissioners to suspend a police sergeant and an officer.
The police chief said last week that he planned to terminate both officers after they contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection during two separate traffic stops, adding that their actions were against the department’s policy. The calls, Bettison said, resulted in the individuals being detained by federal agents. Should there be translation services required, the department has a contract with a company that can do so.
“There’s absolutely no reason to contact federal law enforcement agencies to assist with translation services,” he said previously about the investigation.
The two incidents happened on Dec. 16, 2025, and Feb. 9, 2026. A routine audit of body-worn cameras brought the incidents to his attention.
The Detroit News also has the story, but it’s hidden behind a paywall.
What caught my eye was the photo of Toad Todd Bettison. I have previously mocked the habit of police chiefs like former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw wearing four stars on their uniforms, like they are full generals in the United States Army, and have previously and positively noted how Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers wears only the eagle of a colonel. But Chief Bettison had to go one step further, and wear the five-star collar starts of a General of the Army or Fleet Admiral. That’s some major self-aggrandizement there! The last American promoted to a five-star rank was General of the Army Omar Bradley, in 1951, then Chief of Staff of the United States Army, the promotion being made so he would not be outranked by his subordinate, Douglas MacArthur.
But Chief Bettison wears five stars! Perhaps he’ll start carrying a Field Marshal’s baton next.
The size of the Detroit Police Department coincides with that of a regiment in the Army, and a regiment is normally commanded by a colonel or a brigadier general.
Of course, five-star generals don’t back down, but little General Bettison did, from his promise to fire the two law-abiding officers.
That’s a shame. If he’d fired them, they could have sued and possibly gotten compensatory damages.
Now they’ll have to quit.
Oh well…I hear ICE is hiring. Sounds like they’d fit right in there and I’d bet the feds pay better than the Detroit Police can.
Alas! -While ICE is hiring, the next Democrat in the White House will fire them all, so perhaps it’s wiser to keep building their pensions in Detroit.
A better choice would be to hire on with a police department in a solid red state.
Good point. I’d hope that sanity will prevail and either Vance or Rubio will carry the torch forward, thus securing the employment of new ICE agents into the future.
But hope in one hand and crap in the other and all that…
Agreed on your premise that they should move somewhere their efforts are appreciated. I actually worked in an environment like that…I was a Naval Policeman on an Aircraft Carrier where the Captain hated the security department and policing in general. We were virtually ALWAYS in the wrong, no matter the circumstances.
Not fun.