Veteran Officer Terence Green appointed by Neeley as new Flint Police Chief
By Tom Travis
Veteran police officer Terence Green will be Flint’s new Chief of Police, pending the consent of the Flint City Council. Mayor Sheldon Neeley announced the appointment today in a press conference at City Hall on the outside back lawn shaded by large locust trees surrounding the Dome auditorium.
Neeley said of Green, “His love of community is measured by his level of commitment of being here and bringing his skill and talent back to this community.”
(Photo by Tom Travis)
In a printed press release, Green stated, “I love the City of Flint. This is a dream come true to become the chief of police in the city where I was born and raised and that I love so much. This will be the pinnacle of my career.” Green is expected to begin in his new post September 1, 2020.
Detailing his reasons for choosing Green, Neeley explained, “He cares for this city as I do. He is Flint born, raised and educated here in the City of Flint and Terence Green is still a resident of the City of Flint.” Mayor Neeley said he has known Green since kindergarten, elementary, jr high and high school.
In reference to a recent press conference in which Neeley and departing Interim Chief Phil Hart laid out a plan to combat crime, including a gun buy back program and hiring 14 additional officers, Green stated, “Anything that began prior to me as Chief of Police, it will continue.”
Concerning the recent 200 applications received by the City for 14 open positions in the police department, Green said he will evaluate each candidate personally that has applied.
When asked about where he stands on the Black Lives Matter movement in Flint Green responded, ‘I am for any positive protest. I think Black Lives Matter is important and a lot of people are listening, including me and as a Police Chief I get it. I think they have a very important agenda and we will try to cooperate with them as much as we can.”
Green continued,
“The first thing I’m going to do when I come in is evaluate. My first concern is the morale of the employees. I’ll evaluate that and we’ll go from there.”
He added, “If morale is high employees will want to come to work every day, give 100% and go home safely. If any employee dreads coming to work and that’s usually a sign of low morale then it’s going to be counterproductive for the police department. I want for all our employees, officers, janitorial, secretarial I want the morale to be high. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure morale is high.”
A printed statement from the City summarized Green’s work experience and education:
“Green graduated from Flint Northern High School in 1986 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1991. He joined the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department as a corrections officer in 1992, earned his police officer certification in 1995 from the Delta College Police Academy and then became a sheriff’s deputy. Throughout his career he was assigned to drug enforcement details with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Flint Area Narcotics Group. He also served as a commander of the Genesee County Sheriff’s department drug enforcement team called the Posse.
“Green retired from the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department in 2013. He then joined the University of Michigan-Flint Police Department while attending management training at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety. In 2014, Green was sworn in as the first black police chief in Mt. Morris Township. The appointment of Chief Green will be presented to Flint City Council for its consent as described in the Flint Charter.”
EVM assistant editor Tom Travis can be reached at tomntravis@gmail.com.
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