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Eric Jones named new Detroit fire commissioner

Jones replaces Edsel Jenkins, who retired after 29 years with Detroit Fire Department

DETROIT – Mayor Mike Duggan named Eric Jones the Detroit Fire Department's new interim executive fire commissioner during a news conference Wednesday.

Jones replaces Executive Commissioner Edsel Jenkins, who retired earlier this week after 29 years with the department.

Jones is a former Detroit police officer who rose through the ranks to assistant police chief. He earned a law degree while working as a cop.

He retired from the Detroit Police Department a couple years back. Mayor Duggan then named him head of the city's building codes department. The mayor said Jones helped turn around the department and make it one of the city's most successful turnaround stories.

"I went to (Eric Jones) and I said, 'You have a gift for solving processes, and I have a job for you. I want you to run the (Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department) ... I'm looking for somebody who can get everyone working in the same direction and get these permits issued in a timely way.' There has not been a department in this city that has turned around faster," said Duggan.

Jones' son, Eric Jones II, is now a Detroit police officer.

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