Warren Evans

Warren Evans
Evans in 2019
Executive of Wayne County
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2015
Preceded byRobert A. Ficano
39th Chief of the Detroit Police Department
In office
July 6, 2009 – July 22, 2010
Appointed byDave Bing
Preceded byJames Barren
Succeeded byRalph Godbee
Sheriff of Wayne County
In office
January 1, 2003 – July 6, 2009
Preceded byRobert A. Ficano
Succeeded byBenny Napoleon
Personal details
Born (1948-12-30) December 30, 1948 (age 77)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
EducationMadonna University (BA)
University of Detroit (MA)
Michigan State University (JD)

Warren Cleage Evans (born December 30, 1948) is an American law enforcement official, lawyer, and politician serving as the county executive of Wayne County, Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Evans served as the sheriff of Wayne County from 2003 until 2009, and as the chief of the Detroit Police Department from 2009 until 2010. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2009 Detroit mayoral special election.

Early career

Evans began his career in law enforcement as a deputy with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department in 1970. Evans rose through the ranks of the department, serving as Undersheriff and the department's second-in-command officer from 1987 through to 1991. Evans became the director of administration for the Wayne County Board of Commissioners in 1991 and created the Wayne County Department of Community Justice and served as its director from 1992 to 1997. He rejoined county government in 2001 as chief of Special Operations for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in 2001 and was named sheriff in 2003 and was elected to full terms in 2004 and 2008.

Chief of Police

On July 6, 2009, Evans was named as the 39th Chief of Police of the Detroit Police Department by Mayor Dave Bing, replacing James Barren, who Bing had fired the previous Friday.

Evans was asked to resign by Bing just over a year into his tenure in July 2010. Bing did not give specifics about why he asked Evans to resign but said "a combination of things" were met with disapproval, and the department was "compromised in some of the decisions he made." Speculation over Evans' desire to be a reality TV star and a relationship he had with a subordinate in the department contributed to his removal.

Politics

Evans ran for mayor of Detroit in the February 2009 special election that was caused by the resignation of Kwame Kilpatrick in September 2008. Evans came in fourth in the primary, taking just over 10 percent of the vote, Bing and then-interim Mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. advanced to the general special election in May.

Evans announced in April 2014 that he was going to seek the Democratic nomination for Wayne County Executive, challenging 3-term incumbent Robert Ficano. Evans easily won the Democratic primary in August 2014, taking 46 percent of the vote. Evans defeated Republican nominee John Dalton.

After running unopposed in the Democratic Primary, Evans defeated Republican challenger Denis Curran to win a second-term as County Executive in November 2018.

Warren C. Evans most notable accomplishment during his career was his ability to turn a 52 million deficit into a surplus.

During his second term (2022), Detroit Metropolitan Airport Authority voted unanimously to name a terminal (Warren Cleage Evans Terminal) after him.

Electoral history

Wayne County Sheriff election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Warren Evans (I) 668,863 80.6 N/A
Republican Taras P. Nykoriak 133,958 16.1 N/A
Constitution Bob Czak 25,150 3.0 N/A
Write-In Write-ins 1,828 0.2 N/A
Democratic hold
Wayne County Executive Democratic Primary, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Warren Evans 68,795 43.9 N/A
Democratic William Wild 40,928 26.1 N/A
Democratic Phil Cavanagh 15,332 9.8 N/A
Democratic Robert Ficano (I) 9,370 6.0 −92.2
Democratic Bettie Cook Scott 4,722 3.0 N/A
Democratic Christopher Wojtowicz 2,643 1.7 N/A
Democratic Cindy Darrah 2,387 1.5 N/A
Democratic Sigmunt Szczepkowski 840 0.5 N/A
Democratic Adam Adamski 670 0.4 N/A
Democratic Russell George Leviska 303 0.2 N/A
Democratic Write-ins 238 0.2 N/A
Wayne County Executive election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Warren Evans 341,281 69.7 −5.2
Republican John Dalton 133,098 27.2 +2.5
Libertarian Keith Butkovich 14,482 3.0 N/A
Write-In Write-ins 748 0.2 N/A
Majority 208,183 42.5 −7.7%
Turnout 489,609 −3.4%
Democratic hold
Wayne County Executive election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Warren Evans (Incumbent) 458,238 73.0 +3.3
Republican Denis Curran 163,664 26.1 −1.1
Write-In Write-ins 3,119 0.5 +0.3
Majority 294,574 46.9 +4.4%
Turnout 628,140 +28.3%
Democratic hold

References

  1. 1 2 "Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans Resigns - CBS Detroit". www.cbsnews.com. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  2. ↑ Jonathan Oosting (July 7, 2009). "Warren Evans opinion roundup: Newspapers heart new chief, blogs not so much". MLive.com. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ Cory Mandina (August 9, 2009). "New police chief, Warren Evans, aims to tame Detroit streets". MLive.com. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Warren C. Evans". www.waynecountymi.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Oosting (July 6, 2009). "Updated: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing names Warren Evans new chief of police". MLive.com. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Report: Detroit Police Chief James Barren being fired". MLive.com. Associated Press. July 4, 2009. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  7. ↑ Foley, Aaron (July 22, 2010). "Photos of the day: Ex-Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans' love affairs with camera, co-workers". MLive. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Wayne Co. Sheriff Evans named Detroit police chief". WKAR. 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  9. ↑ "CITY OF DETROIT, WAYNE COUNTY OFFICIAL FEBRUARY 24, 2009 SPECIAL ELECTION" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  10. ↑ Dennis Kraniak (April 21, 2014). "Warren Evans to run for Wayne County Executive". FOX 2 Detroit. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Warren Evans Wins Race, Vows Not To Repeat Wayne County's 'Rushed, Dumb' Decisions - CBS Detroit". www.cbsnews.com. 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  12. ↑ Kuban, Kurt. "Victorious Evans ready to 'move county forward'". eu.hometownlife.com. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  13. ↑ Candice Williams (November 6, 2018). "Wayne: Hunter-Harvill, Vaughn win DPS board seats". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  14. ↑ Brey, Jared (2024-10-10). "From the Edge of Bankruptcy to a Decade of Surpluses". Governing. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  15. ↑ "Detroit Metropolitan Airport's North Terminal becomes the Warren Cleage Evans Terminal on April 4th | Wayne County Airport Authority". www.metroairport.com. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  16. ↑ "Official Results General election November 4, 2008". November 4, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Official Results Primary election August 5, 2014". August 19, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Official Results General election November 4, 2014". November 18, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Official Results General election November 6, 2018" (PDF). November 20, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2019.