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| Chief of Police James Pierce |
Mr. Pierce was born Jan.12, 1950 in Detroit, the son of James and Marilyn Pierce. He served in the United States Navy and was honorably discharged from service in December of 1971. He was a 3rd degree Taekwondo Black Belt and taught karate through the Metropolitan Combative Arts Dojo.
Mr. Pierce served in law enforcement for more than 45 years. He began his career as a City of Detroit Police Officer in August of 1973. During his career, he worked on the chief's staff, Internal Affairs, Gaming Division and Executive Protection where he served as Mayor Coleman Young's personal security for 10 years. He retired from the City of Detroit Police Department as a sergeant in 2003. He then briefly served as a deputy sheriff for the Wayne County Sheriff's Department.
Following his time as deputy sheriff, Mr. Pierce took the position of police commander with the Sumpter Township Police Department and after serving in that capacity for two years, was appointed as the Sumpter Township Police Chief in 2006. He retired from the department in February 2016. After a short retirement, he decided he was not quite ready to give up police work and returned to the City of Detroit Police Department in the Police Assistant Training Division. Mr. Pierce officially retired from police work in 2018.
Mr. Pierce was remembered fondly and with great respect by members of the Sumpter Township Police Department in an official Facebook posting. His love of the annual Sumpter Fest was recalled and he always insisted on walking the parade route from Judd to Dunn Road. He was a fixture during the festival and loved patrolling the fairgrounds on his golf cart, interacting with the residents in attendance.
In August of 2014, Mr. Pierce accepted the nomination from the late Lee Targgart, owner of Sumpter Ace Hardware, to participate in the “ice bucket challenge” to bring awareness to ALS. He, along with officers and staff, stood in the police department parking lot in their uniforms, allowing hundreds of gallons of ice water to be dumped on them from the bucket of a front loader.
“Chief Pierce treated each of us as members of his family and changed the dynamic of the police department. He was proud to be the Chief of Police of Sumpter Township and equally proud of the men and women who make up the department,” noted a department spokesman. “Chief Pierce created many opportunities for members of the department to excel through education and promotions, laying the foundation for our present balanced, effective command staff and the robust, responsive, and efficient department we have today.”
Mr. Pierce, who enjoyed watching horror and science fiction movies with his grandchildren, was also an avid motorcyclist. He was a member of the Forces of Magnitude motorcycle club in the early 1970s and after officially retiring, he joined the Tuskegee Airmen Motorcycle club in 2019. He enjoyed riding his Royal Blue 2017 Harley Davidson Trike with the motorcycle club and taking adventures with the love of his life, Regina.
Mr. Pierce was preceded in death by his son, Jalani in 1995 and his grandson, Monte in 2022.
Among his survivors left to cherish his memory are his wife of 53 years, Regina; a sister Zandreia Walker; his son James-Rafael (Misty); grandchildren Kyana-Jalani, Rafael-Antonio (Becca), Makaliah-Regina, Tyson-Jalani, James-Kolby and Yasmin-Denise; great-grandsons Ezekiel-James and Jayden-Isaiah; a sister-in-law Renee Peterson; nieces Christine (Victor) Ubokudom and Chanay Peterson; nephews Che Peterson and Rayan Beane, and best friend and “brother” Melvin Turner.
Final arrangements were entrusted to the David C. Brown Funeral Home. Interment was at Grandlawn Memorial Park in Detroit.
