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(WXYZ) – Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon has died aged 65 after battling COVID-19, 7 Action News has learned. Napoleon was diagnosed with COVID-19 on November 19 and hospitalized two days later.
RELATED: State and Local Leaders Respond to Death of Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon
He was born in Detroit in 1955 and was linked to Wayne County long before his public service. A graduate of Cass Tech, Napoleon received degrees from the Detroit Mercy and the Detroit College of Law before starting his permanent career in law enforcement in 1975.
A Detroit police officer, Napoleon worked his way from the streets to the gang team and through Nancy Kerrigan’s assault investigation, reaching first place some 23 years later.
He was Detroit Police Chief from 1998-2001. He landed in his current role 11 years ago, appointed sheriff in 2009 to replace current County Director Warren Evans. He was elected with 75% of the vote in 2012 and a year later would target Detroit’s top political office as the city faced bankruptcy, running for mayor to replace Dave Bing.
Napoleon would run up against a registered candidate, Mike Duggan. Remaining sheriff and re-elected in 2020, Napoleon was known as a tough enforcer, but a leader with a soft side.
Sometimes a chief advisor, as was the case during one of his last public appearances in September, when Cpl. Bryant Searcy was killed in the Wayne County Jail. Three members of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office are believed to succumb to COVID-19 and Napoleon’s brother, the Highland Park Police Chief, spent 75 days in hospital with the virus.
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