Gary A. Brown (born 1953) is an American municipal politician and former police officer. He was elected as the Detroit City Council President Pro-Tem on November 4, 2009 after receiving the second most number of votes. The former Detroit Deputy Police Chief was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 and remains a Detroit resident with his wife.
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The 2009 City of Detroit council race was the first time Gary A. Brown ran for public office after having served in the Detroit Police Department. More than 160 Detroit citizens filed petitions to seek one of the nine council seats. Brown ran on the platform of returning integrity, ethics and visionary leadership to the Detroit City Council which had in recent years been faced with corruption.
Brown received the second highest number of votes in the election and will serve as the Council President Pro-Tem for the 2010-2013 term.[1]
A former Detroit Police Deputy Chief, Gary A. Brown was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He is a graduate of Detroit's Northwestern High School.
While in high school, Brown worked as a bagger at a Farmer Jack supermarket in Detroit. When he left seven years later, he was the assistant store manager. Brown entered the United States Marine Corps during this same timeframe, and within two years, received three promotions. After being honorably discharged, he attended Wayne State University in Detroit and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.
In addition, Brown earned a Master's of Science Degree from Eastern Michigan University and attended the FBI National Academy, as well as Northwestern University's Staff and Command.
Brown joined the Detroit Police Department in 1977 and was selected president of his recruit class. During his 26 years of service with the police department, he began as a patrol officer and upon his retirement was the Deputy Police Chief. In between, Brown served as Commander of the 1st, 3rd, 9th and 11th Precincts, and during different periods led Gang Squad, Narcotics and Internal Affairs (as deputy chief). He was the first African-American to receive the highest score on the Detroit Police Lieutenant's Promotional Examination.
Brown was wrongly fired as Deputy Police Chief by former City of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in May 2003 and was part of a successful $8.4 million whistle-blowers' lawsuit against the City of Detroit which reclassified his firing as retirement.[2]
Brown is the founder and owner of Brown & Associates, a case consultant firm for law enforcement and private security litigation. He is married and has three children and four grandchildren.[3]