James K . Watkins James Keir Watkins ( May 24 , 1887 – February 1970 ) was an American attorney and police commissioner . He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1905 to 1909 . He later became a leading attorney in Detroit and served as commissioner of the Detroit Police Department in the early 1930s . He also organized the Detroit branch of " The Volunteers " in 1936 " to save their country from a perpetuation of the New Deal . " Early years . Watkins was born in 1887 . He was the son of the Rev . Amos Watkins of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Bay City , Michigan . He attended Ann Arbor High School and next enrolled at the University of Michigan . He played at the tackle , fullback and center positions for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1905 to 1909 . He won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford in 1909 . Watkins later received a law degree from Detroit College of Law and began practicing law in Detroit . He also regularly returned to Ann Arbor to serve as an assistant coach to the football team under head coach Fielding H . Yost . During World War I , he served in the U . S . Army and attended the first training camp at Fort Sheridan . After the war , he became " one of Detroit ' s most respected attorneys . " Detroit Police Commissioner . In January 1931 , Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy appointed Watkins as the commissioner of police . Watkins had never held public office . He knew nothing about police work , but reportedly brought " character , courage , and good judgment " to the job . The " Journal of the American Judicature Society " wrote that Watkins developed a police force " unequaled in any other large city . " Shortly after his appointment , the federal government took over two established Detroit banks , the Guardian National Bank of Commerce and the First National Bank , and established a new National Bank of Detroit . On the night after the creation of the new bank , Watkins went on the radio " to accuse the government of having ' played into the hand of the Wall Streeters . ' " After Watkins radio talk , over 10 , 000 telegrams were sent to Washington . Watkins tenure as police commissioner was a time of street protests and labor unrest . In November 1931 , the Communist candidate for mayor and the Unemployed Councils conducted a large demonstration in downtown Detroit . When police used clubs and tear gas to move the demonstrators away from City Hall , Watkins came under criticism . Watkins again was the subject of press attention after he sent a contingent of Detroit police officers to support the Dearborn police during the March 1932 Ford Hunger March , in which four workers were shot to death . Watkins explained that , upon learning that a riot was taking place , he dispatched his officers to the scene , but noted that the trouble was " pretty much over " by the time the Detroit officers arrived . Later years . In September 1936 , Watkins , by then the former police commissioner , organized a Detroit unit of an organization called The Volunteers " to provide citizens of Michigan with an opportunity to save their country from a perpetuation of the New Deal . " Watkins organization received support from Senator Arthur Vandenberg . Watkins explained , " Any one interested in the Landon - Knox movement , no matter what his party affiliations , but who is an American citizen who wants to see the American form of constitutional government continued is invited to join The Volunteers . " Watkins also served as president of the Detroit community fund , a coordinating agency for the city ' s charities , which raised $ 2 million per year .