DETROIT — Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans was forced out from his position on Wednesday, July 21 with Detroit Mayor David Bing saying Evans made a series of decisions over time that “compromised” the city.

Bing refused to go into specifics as to why Evans was forced to resign, however. Following the resignation, Bing appointed Assistant Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee to interim chief.

The Detroit mayor also said that he will conduct a nationwide search to find the best possible permanent replacement for the position in the future. He gave no timeline for finishing the search, however.

For now, however, Bing said that he is confident that Godbee has the experience and skill to get the job done as Evans’ replacement.

Godbee said that Evans was one of his mentors and said that Evans had made a great deal of progress in the department while adding that he doesn’t plan on changing a whole lot in order to keep things running as smoothly as possible in a city that still has major problems with crimes, particularly of the violent variety.

Evans finished fourth in the 2008 race for Detroit mayor to fill the void left by Kwame Kilpatrick’s resignation. Bing won and  was originally named chief in July 2009 by Bing.

His department came under criticism after the death of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, who was killed during a raid on the east side of Detroit while sleeping, although Evans was reportedly out of the country at the time; her parents are currently suing the department and the City of Detroit with the case still pending.

Evans also raised a few eyebrows after filming a promo for a possible reality TV series on the A&E network that showed him conducting raids while posing with guns and pledging to do “whatever it takes” to fight crime in the city. Cameras were rolling on the morning of the Stanley-Jones incident according to local media reports. Detractors have said the police officers involved were psyched up by the cameras rolling.

Bing said he was “stunned” and “upset” when he first saw the reality show footage of Evans.

Another potential precursor to the decision was Evans’ romantic relationship with a subordinate, Lieutenant Monique Patterson. An internal investigation from the police department read by Detroit Free Press stated that the relationship caused tension and affected decisions.

Evans had many supporters in the city who were surprised by the news of him being forced out, however. Detroit City Council Pro Tem Gary Brown said that he was “shocked” after hearing the news.

Evans recently visited Dearborn for a pair of meetings in early April with Arab American leaders to discuss measures to keep Arab American businessmen in the city safe in the wake of three killings that happened over a span of two weeks leading up to the meeting.

Evans said during the meeting that the percentage of homicide cases closed during his tenure from July 2009 until April 2010 had gone up from 29% to 65%, which was higher than the national average at that time.

He was also endorsed by The Arab American News in his run for Wayne County Sheriff in 2004 and had a close working relationship with the Arab American community.

Marwan Taleb, who was appointed as the Wayne County Sheriff Department’s Deputy Chief in 2003 by Evans and became the first Arab American to hold such a position in the nation, said that he believed Evans’ departure could be detrimental to the city.

“It’s a great loss to the city of Detroit, he was doing a tremendous job and he’s a great motivator and a hustler who was trying to clean up the city,” said Taleb, who worked with Evans for 20 years.

“Hopefully the city will go on and the new guy (Godbee) can do just as good of a job as he did.

“I’m sure the Arab American community will have a friendly relationship with him like Warren, who was very close to the community.” Godbee said that he is committed to holding down the position and hopes to be named the permanent new police chief after Bing’s search is conducted.