John Nichols (1918 – December 18, 1998) was an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as the head of the police departments of the
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
cities of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and
Farmington Hills
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Tro ...
, as well as the
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
of
Oakland County, Michigan
Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...
. He also unsuccessfully ran in the
1973 Detroit mayoral election
The 1973 Detroit mayoral election took place on November 5, 1973. It saw the election of Coleman Young as the first Black mayor of the city.
The election was bipartisan.
Background Detroit
In the previous 1969, Detroit mayoral election, which ...
, being narrowly defeated by
Coleman Young
Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.
Young had emerged from the far-left ele ...
.
Early life and education
Nichols was born in 1918 in Detroit's southwest side's Hungarian community. In 1935, he graduated from the city's Southwestern High School at the age of sixteen.
Nichols would, in 1968, graduate with a degree in police administration from
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
.
Detroit Police Department career
Nichols joined the
Detroit Police Department
The Detroit Police Department (DPD) is a municipal police force based in and responsible for the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1865, it has nearly 2,500 officers, making it the largest law enforcement organization in Michigan.
Histo ...
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. He served 3.5 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and becoming a
company commander
A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...
in the
European Theater
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...
of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After his military service, in 1946, he rejoined the Detroit Police Department force.
In 1948, he became a
police detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...
, and was assigned to the department's juvenile bureau. In 1965, he was promoted to district inspector.
In 1966, he was promoted to deputy superintendent. In 1967, he was promoted to superintendent, making him second-in-command of the department. Later in 1967, the
1967 Detroit riot
The 1967 Detroit Riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot or Detroit Rebellion, was the bloodiest of the urban riots in the United States during the "Long, hot summer of 1967". Composed mainly of confrontations between Black residents and the De ...
took place.
In 1968, he received a degree in police administration from Wayne State University. He would go on to teach a course there himself on police work.
Chief
On October 15, 1970,
Roman Gribbs
Roman Stanley Gribbs (December 29, 1925 – April 5, 2016) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Detroit from 1970 to 1974. Later, Gribbs served as a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals. Gribbs was the last white mayor of the ...
appointed Nichols to be the city's police commissioner, making him head of the city's police department. He was appointed to replace Patrick V. Murphy who had departed to head the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
. Nichols was only the second rank-and-file police officer of the department to ever rise to serve as its head (the first being William P. Rutledge in 1926). One of the factors in Gribbs' decision to hire Nichols was an
editorial board
The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.
Mass media
At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...
opinion article in the ''
Michigan Chronicle
''The Chronicle'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1936 by John H. Sengstacke, editor of the ''Chicago Defender''. Together with the ''Defender'' and a handful of other African-American newspap ...
'' which praised Nichols as a prospective police commissioner. His appointment was regarded to be a popular choice, and received praise from
police union
A police union is a trade union for police officers. Police unions formed later than most other occupations, reflecting both a conservative tendency and relatively superior working conditions. The first police unions formed in the United States. Sh ...
Detroit 9000
''Detroit 9000'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Arthur Marks from a screenplay by Orville H. Hampton. Originally marketed as a blaxploitation film, it had a resurgence on video 25 years later.
Plot
Street-smart white detective Danny ...
''.
On September 21, 1973, amid Nichols' general election campaign for mayor, Mayor Gribbs fired Nichols as police commissioner, after Nichols had refused to tender his resignation at Nichols' request. Gribbs had ousted Nichols out of a desire to separate the city election's politics and the operations of the Detroit Police Department separate. He also did so out of the belief that campaigning in a general election would be more demanding of Nichols than running in the primary had been, and that it would take him away from his duties as police commissioner.
1973 Detroit mayoral campaign
In 1973, Nichols ran a "law-and-order" centered campaign for
mayor of Detroit
This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city.
The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014.
History o ...
. He narrowly lost to
Coleman Young
Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit.
Young had emerged from the far-left ele ...
.
While the election was nonpartisan, both Nichols and Young were Democrats.
Young ran, in part, on a platform to abolish the police department's STRESS unit.
Farmington Hills Police Chief
In 1974, he retired from the Detroit Police Department, and moved to
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 20 ...
. He briefly served as
Oakland County, Michigan
Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...
undersheriff under Sheriff Johannes Spreen, before then being appointed Farmington Hills' police chief in 1977.
Oakland County Sheriff
In 1984, Nichols defeated the incumbent Johannes Spreen to become Oakland County sheriff. Nichols was reelected three times. In each of his elections, with the exception of his 1996 reelection to a fourth term, he was the county's highest vote-getter. Nichols was elected as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
.
As sheriff, Nichols undertook what James A. McClear of the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' would later call, "a tough, no-frills revamping of the department". He instituted strict policies for the department's officers, doubled the capacity of its jail, and tripled the size of its road patrol. The jail had been regularly at or near capacity. The department's annual budget increased during his tenure, being at $73 million by the end of his tenure.
Among what James A. McClear of the ''Detroit Free Press'' wrote, at the time of his death, had been the successes of Nichols' tenure was a boot camp for young offenders that garnered national acclaim, a marine division patrolling Oakland County's lakes, and an investigative bureau that was regularly asked to help other departments.
During his tenure, the department faced a
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
probe. While the probe harmed the reputation of the department, it was not regarded to have personally harmed his own reputation.
Nichols
died in office
A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The dea ...
in 1998.
Personal life and death
In 1954, his first wife, Mildred, committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
using his service
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
. Nichols remarried to a former policewoman.
Nichols was the father to several children.
At the time of his 1996 reelection to a fourth term as Oakland County sheriff, there were reports that Nichols was in poor health.
Nichols died on December 18, 1998, at the age of 80 after a debilitating fight with
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
and
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
. Following his death, James A. McClear of the ''Detroit Free Press'' wrote, "described as a crusty warrior who gave as much loyalty as he demanded, Nichols earned a reputation for honesty during his more than 55 years as a police officer." Obituaries described him as being bluntly spoken. More than 1,000 attended his funeral.