Flint, MI–Terence Green was a patrol boy in elementary school.
Now, he is Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s appointment as the new police chief for the city of Flint.
Neeley made the announcement this afternoon and shared that he and Green have known each other since they were kids.
“I don’t have to guess about his character…I know his heart,” Neeley said. “His heart is around protecting the city.”
Green, who was born and raised in Flint, will assume the role of police chief no later than the beginning of September, Neeley said.
A press release stated that “the command staff will continue to operate business as usual for the department,” until Green is officially hired.
“I am accepting this position because of my everlasting love for the city of Flint,” Green said at the press conference.
He announced that he will continue whatever programs have been started prior to his appointment, including the three-point crime plan that Neeley and Former Police Chief Phil Hart announced a few weeks ago.
As for police recruitment and hiring, Green said he would be “evaluating each candidate personally,” once he is hired.
Green also said that he had concerns about department morale, and would be investigating and evaluating morale once he gets started.
“I’m waiting for day one so I can evaluate everything,” he said. “There might be some changes, there might not be.”
Green was the first Black police chief in Mt. Morris Township and filled that role for almost six years, but he’s been involved in law enforcement work for decades.
He graduated from Minnesota State University-Moorehead in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and got hired on as a corrections officer for the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department the following year.
He became a licensed paramedic in 1994 and got his certification to be a police officer from the Delta College Police Academy in 1995.
After being a road deputy for four years, Green was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to three narcotics teams where he discovered his passion for shutting down drug houses.
In 2009, he was promoted to Captain until he retired from the agency in 2013.
He spent the following year working as a sergeant for the University of Michigan Police Department while attending management training at Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety.
Green will be paid a salary of $100,000 as police chief, and his appointment will be presented to Flint City Council “as soon as possible” for its consent.