Vice Chair

Phone: (313) 316-2493 
               (313) 596-1830
Email: [email protected] 
              [email protected] 

Many Detroiters knew Tamara Liberty Smith as a tenacious community and public safety activist long before her special October 2023 appointment to fill a vacancy as the Police Commissioner for District 1.
        A Detroit native, she grew up, raised six children, and still lives in the northwest neighborhoods that she now represents on the Board of Police Commissioners. She is a graduate of Henry Ford High School and earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Wayne County Community College District.
        People commonly call out her first, middle, and surname because the community knows her as Tamara Liberty Smith. She has knocked on doors, organized and attended rallies or marches, and worked in partnership with residents, advocates, and the police in her goal for safer neighborhoods and a thriving City.
        Police Commissioner Smith currently works as a community engagement specialist with CeaseFire Detroit. She is also a social influencer, an outgrowth of her social activism. In her Belmont neighborhood, she is rebuilding a block club. As a Board member, she wants to help spotlight crime statistics about missing, abused and exploited children. She plans to use her experience working with both the police and the community to bring fairness to addressing bad officers while supporting the Police Department.
        Mayor Mike Duggan appointed and the City Council confirmed Police Commissioner Smith after Bryan Ferguson resigned in July 2023 from an elected four-year term slated to end in December 2025. She began serving on the Board during the week of October 23, 2023 to represent District 1, which includes the 8th Precinct and parts of the 2nd and 6th Precincts.