Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson talks about ‘progressive’ policing tactics in Flint
Crime in Flint was down 17% in 2024 and homicide was down 40% since 2021, according to the city.
For millions of Americans, the first time they saw Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson was when he stepped on to the stage at the Democratic National Convention to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
In his speech, Swanson touted Harris’ work as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general.
“As a prosecutor, Kamala Harris protected us by putting violent criminals and sex offenders behind bars. If I was in a courtroom, she’s exactly the tough prosecutor that I’d want to see,” Swanson said.
According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime rates were down nationally in the two years after President Joe Biden took office.
Swanson. whose career in law enforcement spans 32 years, oversees the state’s fifth-largest sheriff’s office, with responsibility for Genesee County and its county seat, Flint.
He was appointed in 2019 to fill a vacancy in the position and won reelection in 2020. During his time as sheriff, he’s created several important initiatives.
In 2020, Swanson established IGNITE, a program that offers classes and job training to people in prison. Swanson works full time on IGNITE along with two people who did time in prison and who serve as ambassadors to the program — something Swanson says is both different and progressive.
“On Sept. 8, 2020, I launched a complete philosophy, a culture change in the jail by going and bringing in education from every inmate all the way to the top, whether it’s a sixth-grade education or a college degree. They have an ability to go learn,” Swanson told the Michigan Independent.
In 2022, Swanson’s office created Operation Arrowhead, which increased the number of patrols and deputies responding to crime in Flint. Earlier, in 2019, Swanson’s office created a task force called Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, or G.H.O.S.T, a program that directly targets the crimes of human trafficking and sexual assault. The program has led to the arrest of over 150 people since its founding, according to its website.
These programs have produced real results, Swanson said. The city of Flint said in an April press release that crime overall was down 17% in 2024 and homicides were down 40% since 2021.
Swanson said when it comes to policing, it’s been important to him to take bold steps, adding that he does not agree with calls to defund the police.
“You cannot defund a profession. You need to make the profession better. That’s why I call it police evolution,” he said, adding: “‘Progressive’ is not a naughty word.”
In 2020, Swanson and members of his department joined a crowd in Flint protesting the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. He said the image of Floyd “enraged all the good police officers that go out every single day to protect and serve.”
Swanson said he believes those in law enforcement who don’t have the temperament for the job should be called out, fired, retrained, or charged if they commit a crime while on the job.
“Law enforcement is what I’ve known since I was a young adult, and there are people that are going to get it, there are people that are going to thrive and embrace it, and there’s people that are not going to get it, and they need to be gone,” Swanson said. “I have no problem pruning the tree.”
