Chief William Corbett Hired

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In late 1979, Chief Krasny announced that he was retiring from the Ann Arbor Police Department after 41 years of service. With his retirement announcement, it set in motion the hiring of the first chief from outside the department. This would also be the first time that the city council played such a large role in the hiring of the chief of police. Chief Krasny was to have retired on March 1, 1980, but the search for his replacement was lengthy due to the large amount of applicants.

By April, the city administrator stated that four finalists had been selected and after a final interview one of them would be selected. Lt. William Hoover was a thirteen year veteran of the department and was the only internal candidate.

In May, City Administrator Terry Sprenkel announced that William Corbett was hired to replace Chief Krasny. City council unanimously supported the hiring of Corbett, the first outsider to guide the Ann Arbor Police Department.

At the time of his hire, Chief Corbett was the commander of the 14th Precinct in Detroit. He had served with the Detroit Police Department for over 25 years.

Chief Corbett was formally sworn in during a ceremony on the promenade at city hall in July. All of the officers lined up in formation as Chief Krasny stepped down and handed his chief's badge over to Ann Arbor's new chief.

Chief Krasny saluted Chief Corbett and stated, “I have inspected the department and have found everything to be in order. I now turn it over to you.” With that, Chief Krasny officially ended 41 years of service with the Ann Arbor Police Department. I believe Chief Krasny was the longest serving police officer in the history of the department.