Detroit Police Chief Bettison Says Call to Activist Jahdante Smith Was Personal, Not Official

Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said Friday that a phone call he made to activist Jahdante Smith asking him to remove Facebook photos of Mayor Mary Sheffield was a personal request between two men who have known each other since 2019, not something he did in his role as chief.

The dispute traces back to photos Smith posted to his personal Facebook page showing Sheffield and her former partner, Marvin Walker. Smith told Local 4 he posted the images to draw attention to allegations involving Walker and real estate dealings. Bettison later called Smith and asked him to take the photos down.

Bettison said he and Smith share a personal history that includes the chief donating money to a GoFundMe campaign Smith set up to buy a car. He said Smith texted him asking for help arranging a meeting with Sheffield about an environmental issue, and that Bettison called him back and raised the photos as a personal matter, not a professional one.

"He wanted me to set up a meeting. He had placed, in my opinion, photos that I wouldn't want of any woman just being placed," Bettison told Local 4. "I asked him, and I didn't ask him as chief of police. We have a personal relationship. I asked him as Todd."

Bettison rejected the idea that his position as chief follows him into every interaction. "I'm not (just) the chief of police. I'm a dad. I'm a husband. When I go to the doctor, I'm a patient. If you look at my timecard, they pay me for 40 hours a week," he said.

Smith disputes that framing. He told Local 4 the chief's authority does not switch off depending on the conversation. "The fact that he can say that he can take off one hat and just become a regular person, he always has his authority until he is retired; he always going to have his authority as the chief. I think that call is intimidation and, in a way, a threat," Smith said.

Smith said he refused Bettison's repeated requests to remove the posts. He also denied Bettison's characterization of their relationship, saying he only reaches out to the chief when a police matter is involved. "To say that we have had a long-standing relationship does not give him the ability to violate my First Amendment right," Smith said.

Smith told Local 4 that Detroit police officers seized his cellphone last month, which he described as retaliation. He said the phone was eventually returned but that some of its contents had been deleted. Bettison denied any connection between the seizure and his call to Smith, saying the device was taken as part of a separate police investigation into a report that Smith had threatened a woman's life, an investigation he said began before the two spoke on Aug. 5.

Bettison also accused Smith of posting his and Assistant Chief Hayes' home addresses online, including one address in Farmington Hills where the chief's wife and child live and another in downtown Detroit. "I have people calling me concerned for my safety. Now, I'm OK. I'm the chief of police. I can protect myself. But my family, my wife is terrified of Jahdante Smith," Bettison said. During the interview, he played what he said was a video Smith posted to Facebook in which Smith can be heard saying he intends to take the chief's badge.

Sheffield's office has not addressed the phone call directly. Local 4 again sought an interview with the mayor Friday, and her team declined.

It is not clear whether the cellphone seizure was tied to the photo dispute or what role, if any, the mayor's office played in prompting Bettison's call. Neither side has filed a formal complaint or lawsuit over the matter as of Friday, and no city body has announced a review of the chief's conduct.