William L. Hart (January 17, 1924 – November 22, 2003)[1] was a Detroit Police Chief for almost 15 years,[2] a position for which he was hired by Coleman Young, the mayor of the Detroit, in 1976;[2] Hart was a political ally and adviser of Young's.[3] Hart served as a Detroit policeman for four decades,[4] and was Detroit's first black police chief and the city's longest serving police chief until that time.[1] He was honored by the AARP in 1988 and in 1992 sentenced to 10 years' prison and ordered to pay back $2.3 million he had stolen.
Personal life
editHart was a World War II military veteran. Before moving to Detroit to find work, Hart lived in Pennsylvania until 1949, where he worked at a coal mine until it closed. Hart obtained a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's in social education from Wayne State University. In 1973, he graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. In 1978, Hart was a guest lecturer at Michigan State University, in the College of Urban Development.[5] Hart also secured a PhD in educational sociology from Wayne State.[6] He married Laura around 1951, a nurse, who remained his wife until her death.[7] Laura Hart passed away in 1992 at 62 years of age, while her husband was imprisoned; she had been his main witness during his defense in court.[8] William Hart passed away at 79 years of age, in Philadelphia.[1]
Police career
editHart joined the Detroit police force in 1952; soon, working undercover on the 9th Precinct on Detroit's East Side in gambling and prostitution establishments, he became known as "the man of a thousand faces".[6] Hart rose through the ranks;[1] his specialties were the investigation of vice and of organized crime. His co-workers described him as "methodical" and "soft-spoken."[5] In 1970, Detroit Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy promoted Hart to lieutenant. Years later Murphy said: «he enjoyed such an outstanding reputation in the department. He was highly respected by the people above him and below him in rank. His performance evaluation couldn`t have been better.»[6] In the early 1970s, when the Internal Affairs Section was created (replacing the Citizen Complaint Bureau),[9] Hart was one of only two officers selected to start it up.[6]
In November 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan appointed Hart to head a nine-member commission to recommend what could the State and Federal governments do with regard to spouse, elderly and child abuse.[10] In May 1988, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) honored Hart with a special commendation for "outstanding work with and for Detroit's older citizens", to serve as model "for other communities throughout the country."[11]
Indicted in February 1991, following a two-year investigation,[4] and together with a civilian Deputy Police Chief,[12] Hart was convicted in May 1992 by a jury of 12 people[7] of embezzling $2.3 million,[2] starting in 1986.[3] Prosecutors had accused Hart of stealing $2.6 million, but the judge determined some of the taken money had been legitimately spent.[13]
Hart stole the money from the department's drug enforcement fund.[1] He used part of the embezzled funds to benefit the mayor, including armoring his limousine, purchasing machine guns for the mayor's security detail, and paying for a satellite television system for the mayor's home.[2] During court proceedings it was revealed that police crews were sent to protect the mayor's niece, who was accused in relation to the importation of drugs;[2] eleven policemen who reported to him were accused of guarding drug shipments.[12] Hart also used the embezzled funds to purchase what the press described as luxury cars and other gifts, including cash, trips and concert admissions for Hart's three girlfriends; to buy $1000-a-week worth of lottery tickets, and to pay for renovations to his residence and his Canadian cottage.[7][4][14] Roughly one-half of the grafted money was laundered through front companies created by the Deputy Chief, who was separately convicted and sent to prison;[4] one of these companies had allegedly paid $72,000 worth of rent on behalf of a Hart daughter in Beverly Hills.[15] Hart was acquitted of witness tampering and of a charge of conspiracy with the convicted Deputy Chief.[7]
Resignation
editHart resigned from his post as Police Chief the day after his May 1992 conviction;[4] his salary was around $100,000.[7] He remained eligible to collect his police pension.[16] Hart was sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed by law, 10 year's prison, for graft, in August 1992; he was 68 years old at the time.[4] Hart was ordered to pay back $2.34 million.[13]
Hart served only seven years in jail,[17] and was released in 1999.[18]
Tax convictions
editHart was convicted for submitting false tax returns in 1986 and 1987.[2] He was acquitted of tax evasion in 1985.[7] He was sentenced to three years for each of two counts of tax evasion, but these times were to run concurrently with his embezzlement conviction.[4]
Assessment
editFollowing Hart's 1992 conviction, Detroit mayor Coleman A. Young said: «Bill Hart was a good man and a good cop".»[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Obituaries in Brief • William Hart". The Tribune-Democrat. 26 November 2003. p. D7.
- ^ a b c d e f Frank Witsil (26 August 2021). "Corruption accusations in Detroit are hardly new. Here are other cases". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b Doron P. Levin (12 February 1991). "Detroit Police Chief And Former Deputy Charged With Theft". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ex-Police Chief Gets A 10-Year Sentence In Detroit Graft Case". The New York Times. Associated Press. 28 August 1991. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b Robert J. McCormack (27 November 1978). "Matching an urban force to the community". Law Enforcement News. Vol. IV, no. 20. Criminal Justice Center of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NYC. p. 8. ISSN 0364-1724. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d Robert Blau (1 February 1992). "DETROIT DIVIDED OVER TRIAL OF POLICE CHIEF OF 'A THOUSAND FACES'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Former Detroit Police Chief Convicted of Embezzlement". The New York Times. 8 May 1992. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Wife of Imprisoned Ex-Police Chief Dead". Associated Press. 15 June 1993. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "1. Police-Community Relations". University of Michigan Carceral State Project. U-M Department of History. 2021. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
In 1973 [...] the Detroit Police Department released a glowing booklet titled "Turnaround in the '70s" [...] claimed that DPD's recently formed Internal Affairs Section, which had replaced the Citizen Complaint Bureau, dealt quickly and fairly with all allegations of police brutality and misconduct
- ^ "Family Feuds". Time (magazine). Vol. 122, no. 14. 3 October 1983. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
nine-member panel, headed by Detroit Police Chief William Hart, will hold hearings across the country starting in November and submit a report on how federal and state governments should cope with spouse and child abuse as well as mistreatment of the elderly
- ^ "American Association of Retired Persons to honor Chief Hart". PR Newswire. PR Newswire Association. 18 April 1988.
a special commendation from AARP at the closing convention business session, Thursday, May 12, Deets said. "We are honoring Chief Hart for his outstanding work with and for Detroit's older citizens. He was one of the nation's first law- enforcement officials to recognize and effectively use older persons as a resource for the criminal justice system. He has also created an extremely helpful computerized telephone reassurance program for older people. We think his efforts are worthy of commendation and we hope they will serve as models for other communities throughout the country."
- ^ a b AMY HARMON (23 May 1991). "11 Police, Detroit Mayor's Kin Arrested in Drug Sting". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Ex-Detroit Police Chief Gets 10 Years for Embezzling". Jet. Vol. 82, no. 22. 21 September 1992. p. 29.
Prosecutors said he stole $2.6 million from a fund created to pay for drug buys and undercover operations. Gadola said some of the money was legitimately spent. He ordered Hart to pay back $2.34 million.
- ^ "Right From The Crime Fund". Time. Vol. 139, no. 20. 18 May 1992. p. 24. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
stealing $2.6 million dollars from his department, in part to procure lavish gifts for his three mistresses. More money bankrolled a $1,000-a-week lottery habit and renovations on a Canadian vacation cottage
- ^ James Risen (19 December 1989). "Use of Detroit Police Funds Probed Law enforcement: Inquiry seeks to determine if money was spent to pay rent on posh Beverly Hills home for chief's daughter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
Hart's daughter had $72,000 in rent paid over two years on her Beverly Hills home by companies controlled by the mysterious central figure in the scandal, Kenneth Weiner, a former civilian deputy chief of police in Detroit
- ^ "Suspended Police Chief Quits Force in Detroit After Verdict". The New York Times. 10 May 1992. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Ex-Detroit police chief regrets he set bad example". MLive.com. Associated Press. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
Chief William Hart left in 1991 after a federal grand jury indicted him in 1991 for embezzling $2.6 million from the department's drug enforcement fund. He served seven years in prison
- ^ "Deaths elsewhere". Indiana Gazette. Associated Press. 25 November 2007. p. 4.
He was convicted to 10 years in jail, serving seven before being released in 1999.
