Politics / Law
Roman Gribbs
1925–2016 · lawyer, sheriff, mayor of Detroit, appeals judge
Polish American prosecutor and Wayne County sheriff who was mayor in 1970–1974, created the notorious STRESS police unit, and was Detroit's last white mayor until 2014.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Northville, Michigan
aged 90- Birth name
- Roman Stanley Gribbs
- Also known as
- Roman S. Gribbs
- Detroit years
- 1940s–1970s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Roman Gribbs was born in Detroit in 1925 to Polish immigrant parents and raised on a farm near Capac; his father also worked on the Ford assembly line. After Army service he earned economics and law degrees at the University of Detroit, taught there and spent seven years as an assistant Wayne County prosecutor before joining a Detroit law firm. Appointed Wayne County sheriff in 1968, he won the 1969 mayoral race narrowly over Richard H. Austin, who would have been the city's first Black mayor. Instead of moving into the Manoogian Mansion, he stayed in his home in Rosedale Park. In 1971 his administration created STRESS (Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets), an undercover decoy unit that killed some 20 people, most of them Black, and deepened distrust between police and Black residents. He chaired the National League of Cities in 1973, did not seek re-election, and later served as a Michigan Court of Appeals judge. He died in Northville in 2016.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1970–1974
- Wayne County sheriff, 1968–1969
- President of the National League of Cities (1973)
- Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals
- Last white mayor of Detroit before Mike Duggan
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1948–1957
University of Detroit Mercy
He earned economics (1952) and law (1954) degrees here and taught at the university until 1957.