For a community that cared deeply, he was many things: Wayne County sheriff, tireless volunteer, dedicated leader, public servant, friend, and mentor. But to Tiffani Jackson, 33, he was just her dad.
“He was the same person as your sheriff as your friend or your brother or my dad — he was a genuine person and a consistent person. A loyal, kind, caring person. He truly had a heart for helping other people without expectation,” Jackson said of her father, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon.
Napoleon lost his lengthy battle with COVID-19 due to complications from the virus in the late evening hours on Dec. 17, officials confirmed.
Napoleon, 65, described as a pillar in the community, a devoted public servant, family man and friend, was diagnosed with COVID-19 last month, according to official reports. The sheriff’s office announced Napoleon’s diagnosis on Nov. 19, and he was hospitalized the following day.
Upon notice of his death, tons of heartfelt messages came pouring in from leaders and residents — all highlighting how much Napoleon meant to them and about his dedication to his work.
Mayor Mike Duggan said that he is “shocked and saddened” at the loss of one of the city’s greatest public servants and native sons. “I cannot think of a leader in this town who has been more loved and admired than Benny. He was born in the city, served our community courageously his entire adult life, and loved Detroit as much as anyone I’ve ever known,” Duggan said. “Please keep his daughter Tiffani, his family and friends, and the entire Wayne County Sheriff’s Office in your prayers as they struggle with their painful loss.”
Jackson said that her father treated everyone with dignity and respect, and the man behind the badge was a fun person.
“[He] loved to laugh and tell old stories of his childhood … he liked to travel, he liked to go on family trips,” Jackson said, adding that the family had annual family vacations. This year was different, though, due to COVID-19 and they were unable to travel.
Jackson added that her father loved his staff, friends, and others.
“You rarely got him to speak ill of someone and if he did speak ill of someone it was because of [their] mistreatment of someone else; it wasn’t just fictitious issues that he would formulate with people,” Jackson added. “He tried to get along with everybody.”
Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans expressed that the pain of Napoleon’s loss is palpable. “Words cannot begin to convey the pain we all feel tonight with the passing of Sheriff Benny Napoleon. We have lost a true pillar in our community. He was a dedicated public servant, a loving father to his daughter Tiffani, and a life-long friend to many. My heart aches as Renata and I send out our prayers and condolences to the family,” Evans said, adding that he and Benny were more than colleagues.
“We were close friends. Benny shared a love for Wayne County—especially for the city of Detroit—and that love showed in his passion for making our lives better and our community safer and fairer.” He also shared his condolences with his brothers and sisters in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the Detroit Police Department, who served with and under Napoleon.
“Benny had such a strong bond with the men and women who put on the uniform every day. I know he was strengthened by your thoughts and prayers in these last weeks,” Evans said. “It seems like we have had to say too many goodbyes since COVID-19 hit our community. Benny’s passing reminds us of the short time we have to make the world a better place. I can honestly say the world is a better place because of my friend Benny, and I will miss him dearly,” added Evans.
Napoleon graduated from Cass Technical High School, according to his biography on the Wayne County Sheriff’s page. He joined the Detroit Police Department [DPD] in 1975 as a trainee police officer and was admitted to the Detroit Police Academy in June of 1975. He had many hats in the DPD in many patrol, investigative, undercover and administrative roles. He started his career walking a beat in the Second (Vernor) Precinct. He rose through the police department, being promoted to sergeant in 1983; to lieutenant in 1985; to inspector in 1987; to commander in 1993; to deputy chief in 1994; to assistant chief in 1995; and was appointed chief of police by Mayor Dennis W. Archer in 1998.
After nearly 30 years of service, Napoleon retired from the DPD in 2001. In 2004, Napoleon was named assistant Wayne County executive to help oversee the administration of the country’s 19th most populous county. Napoleon served in that role until he was appointed Wayne County sheriff in July 2009. He won re-election in 2012 for four more years.
Napoleon created many programs including the expansion of the Electronic Monitoring program to more than 500 tether participants a day generating annual cost-savings of $21.8 million, according to the website. He also reduced daily inmate populations to levels before he started his tenure there by using alternative incarceration avenues.
Napoleon participated in many things including the national dialogue as an expert panelist on judicial and law enforcement reform. Also, for more than a decade he was involved with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. He also participated most recently in the NAACP Forum Race and Politics in America; the Congressional Black Caucus’ Symposium in Pursuit of Policing and Criminal Justice Reform; and the League of Women Voters Policing in the 21st Century.
Napoleon earned his associate’s degree in Law Enforcement, cum laude, from Mercy College of Detroit in 1980; his B.A. in Criminal Justice, cum laude, from Mercy College in 1982; and his Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University College of Law in 1986. He was also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection School, the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, the Aresty Institute of Executive Development at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University the Kennedy School of Government Executive Education where he was awarded a certificate of completion for the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program in July 2011. He was also a member of the State Bar of Michigan and has been licensed to practice law since 1987.
Jackson said that even with her father’s very busy schedule, he always made family a priority.
“I remember him always being present,” she said, adding that her father vowed to never allow his work to get in the way of his responsibilities with her. “We were best friends; I talked to both of my parents every day; multiple times a day. [He] was a confidant, a friend.”
She added that when he found out she was expecting a son he asked her “what are we going to do with a little boy?”
Then when her son got here, he quickly found out and she said that “he was the best creation God ever made in my daddy’s eyes.”
“He was truly a great man; there was nothing fake about the person that everyone saw and over the years learned to love,” Jackson said. “He would bear his heart to his community and he would give the shirt off his back to anybody who needed it.”
Jackson said that people should remember the good times to help them through.
“And to allow his legacy to live on,” she said. “I think if there is anything we can learn from my father [it is] find whatever it is that you’re passionate about and to give it everything you got. Commit yourself to it and it will bear beautiful things. [That is] evident in his life. He gave so much.”
Public viewings are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for Monday, December 28, at Swanson Funeral home. Swanson Funeral home is located at 806 East Grand Boulevard in Detroit. Another public viewing will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on December 29 at Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. 7 Mile Road in Detroit.
For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/benny.n.napoleon.
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