From Cell Block to Detroit Police Board
DETROIT – Locked in a segregated prison cell eight years ago, Raphael B. Johnson never thought that someday he’d help run the same police department that arrested him. Then again, maybe he did. Self-confidence is one thing Johnson never lacked.
An unyielding belief in himself sustained him through 12 years of prison — six in solitary confinement — where he did 1,000 pushups a day and steeled his mind by reading more than 1,300 books.
Johnson — if confirmed by the City Council — will become the first ex-offender to serve on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. The job includes regulating disciplinary procedures, establishing policies, approving budgets and promotions, reviewing and reducing a backlog of hundreds of citizens’ complaints, and helping the department comply with the federal consent decree.
An unyielding belief in himself sustained him through 12 years of prison — six in solitary confinement — where he did 1,000 pushups a day and steeled his mind by reading more than 1,300 books.
Johnson — if confirmed by the City Council — will become the first ex-offender to serve on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. The job includes regulating disciplinary procedures, establishing policies, approving budgets and promotions, reviewing and reducing a backlog of hundreds of citizens’ complaints, and helping the department comply with the federal consent decree.
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