Inkster Police Chief Resigns In Wake Of 2-Year-Old Girl's Slaying

INKSTER (WWJ/AP) - The police chief in the Detroit suburb of Inkster has called it quits in the wake of the slaying of a 2-year-old girl in what investigators say could have been a retaliatory attack for an earlier shooting.

Chief Hilton Napoleon announced his decision to resign, effective Friday, in a letter after more than three years on the job. In the letter, Napoleon said he's been working under "extreme" conditions and the "lack of resources and adverse working conditions has taken its toll."

Napoleon says the July 1 front porch slaying of Inkster toddler Kamiya Gross "makes my decision that much easier."

Inkster police lieutenant Jeff Smith will serve as interim chief until a successor is found.

Inkster resident Antoine, who didn't want to give his last name, said he understands why the chief would quit.

"I mean, it's drug-infested and prostitution..." he told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "If you look around, you see people everywhere out here — you know what I'm saying?"

Resident Larry Brown said he wishes things were different.

"It's going down (from) lack of help and everything; they're laying off the police, you know, and the crime...," Brown said. "With no police force...they're cutting it out."

The city of 25,000 narrowly avoided takeover by an emergency manager and has been operating under a financial consent decree with the state. The struggling department in the cash-strapped city has about two dozen officers, down from more than 70 several years ago. Napoleon, last month, asked the Wayne County sheriff's department to take over his department's work.

Inkster Mayor Hilliard Hampton has also asked the county for help.

Hilton Napoleon the brother of Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon.

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