Ella Bully-Cummings
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Ella M. Bully-Cummings (b. 1958 in Japan) became the first female police chief of Detroit, the tenth largest police force in the United States, when Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appointed her on November 3, 2003. She is married to Attorney William Cummings, a retired Detroit police commander. She was previously married to Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans.
Early years
Chief Bully-Cummings is the second oldest of eight children of an African American repair man and a Japanese housewife. Her parents met when her father was serving in the U. S. Army as part of the American Occupation forces. The family settled in Detroit, her Mississippi-born father's adopted hometown, before she turned two.The family struggled financially. At one point the large family lived in a one-bedroom apartment. However, Chief Bully-Cummings credits her father with encouraging her, her six sisters, and one brother to get their education and pursue whatever they wanted.
While in high school she worked at a movie theater and between graduating from high school and going into the police force in 1977 she worked as an administrative assistant at Redford High School and sold real estate. It was at the movie theater in 1974 the sixteen-year-old Bully-Cummings saw her first policewoman in full uniform, which left a lasting impression on her.
Education
She attended Henry Ford Junior High School in Highland Park, Michigan, and is a graduate of Cass Technical High School. Bully-Cummings helped her parents pay for her her siblings' education through early years on the police force. She went to college herself while still serving on the police force after helping to pay for five of her siblings. In December 1993 Bully-Cummings graduated with honors from Madonna University with a bachelor's degree in public administration. She then went on to graduate cum laude from Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University with a J.D. in January 1998 and was sworn into the State Bar of Michigan in May 1998. Sadly, her father died the same year.Career
Bully-Cummings entered the police academy in 1977. Even though she had to face discrimination and male officers calling in sick to avoid working with her, she rose the rank of seargent in 1987. She continued her rise in the department by making lieutenant in 1993 and commander in 1998. In the mid-1980's she worked for the Detroit Free Press as a receptionist, secretary, and administrative assistant when hundreds of police officers were laid-off due to budget cuts.In July 1999 retired from the department to become a staff attorney first at Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC, then at Foley & Lardner, and finally back at Miller Canfield. She represented management in employment cases that involved federal and state discrimination.
In 2002 she was called back into service by Mayor Kilpatrick as an Assistant Chief of Police, the first female appointed to assistant chief position in Detroit. She was charged with overseeing Management Services, Training, Personnel, Science & Technology, and Risk Management bureaus, collectively called the Administrative Portfolio.
After the resignation of Chief Jerry Oliver in 2003, Bully-Cummings was appointed as interim chief. She became permenent in 2004.
Controversey
- Bully-Cummings inherited a troubled department. It is under the supervision of U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr. until 2008 due to a 2001 U.S. Justice Department investigation.
- She came out in support of Mayor Kilpatrick during the 2005 Detroit mayoral campaign in spite of him being ranked as the worst mayor in the U. S. by Time magazine.
- Was held in contempt of court in late 2005 for not reinstating four inspectors and three commanders, who were let go as a part of the restructuring of the police department to save money. A total of 150 police personnel were laid off. [link]
Resources
- [Official Detroit Chief of Police webpage]
- [Ebony, March 2004 article]
- [ABC News Person of the Week from November 2003]
- [Gale group Black History resource]
- [USATODAY from March 2004]
- [Associated Press article]
- [September 2004 Essence article]
- Hackney, Suzette and Schmitt, Ben (with Audi, Tamara). "New chief lays down the law: Preferring progress over praise, she has changes planned" Detroit Free Press, November 8, 2003, 1A.
- Hackney, Suzette and Schaefer, Jim. "Native Detroiter worked her way up" Detroit Free Press, November 4, 2003, 1A.
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