Tag Archives: Department of Public Safety

Wyoming to attend open houses for National Night Out

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Wyoming, Kids Activities, Local Faces, Recreation, Upcoming Events, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor
joanne@wktv.org

During a recent summer market, a Wyoming firefighter sends a message about safety. (WKTV)

Former Wyoming resident Nancy appreciated that her neighbors cared enough to come over and tell her that they saw people taking stuff out of her garage while she was at work.

“It turned out to be OK because I had given the charity group permission to do so, but I appreciated knowing that my neighbors were watching out for me,” she said.

Knowing your neighbors and being familiar with your neighborhood is a key component to fighting crime. Neighbors who are aware of each others activities, such as when they work or go on vacation, are able to identify when something or someone looks suspicious.

“It is not only nice to know your neighbors but it gives you a responsible feeling for your community,” said Lt. Brian Look with the Wyoming Public Safety Department. “With that connection to your community, you notice when things are out of place or when someone may need help.”

Getting to know your neighbors and building that connection to community is what National Night Out is all about. Always the first Tuesday in August — this year it is Aug. 2 — the annual event encourages people to “turn their porch lights on” and come out to meet their neighbors.

A rundown of activities

Give me five: A residents gives a Wyoming police officer a high-five. (WKTV)

Several of the Wyoming neighborhoods will have block party events, Look said. The Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be attending as many as possible Tuesday evening as well as several events that will be be open to the public.

The Department will join the Consumer’s Energy annual kick off event which starts at around 5:30 a.m. at Consumer’s Energy Grand Rapids Service Center Grand Rapids Service Center, 4000 Clay Ave. SW. Along with Wyoming, departments from Grand Rapids, Walker, and Kentwood will be in attendance. Consumer’s Energy staff will be handing out free energy efficient light bulbs to passersby. At 7:15 a.m., the mayors from Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, and Wyoming will present a proclamation to commemorate the day.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will join the Kent County Sheriff’s Department at the RiverTown Celebration! Cinema, 3728 Rivertown Parkway, in the RiverTown Mall. There will be children’s activities and safety information.

From 5 – 7 p.m., officers and firefighters will be at Grace University, 1011 Aldon St. SW. This event is open to the public and will include food, games and an opportunity to check out the SWAT vehicle, firetruck, police vehicles and meet members of the K-9 unit. Bonus, there is usually a large waterslide as well.

Officers and firefighters will be traveling to other neighborhood parties throughout the city.

Mayor Jack Poll offers a few words about the 2021 National Night Out event and its importance to the community. (WKTV)

Rebuilding after COVID

National Night Out was introduced in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch and is now observed throughout the United States and Canada. The recent COVID pandemic did have a toll on the event as people were not able to host events, however several Kent County police organizations hosted National Night Out parades during that time to remind residents the importance of keeping in touch with each other.

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety, which has been participating in National Night Out since the mid-1990s, hosted two public open houses. Due to interest in having neighborhood block parties, the department’s community resource division decided to do a hybrid event this year of open houses and attending neighborhood parties.

“Like many things after COVID, the program fluctuated as we dealt with pandemic,” Look said. “We are in the process of rebuilding.”

Learning about community resources

For the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, the annual event also gives residents the opportunity to meet the officers and learn what resources are available to the the community, Look said.

“It never hurts for community members to get to know who the police officers are out there patrolling your roads and the firemen who are out helping residents,” he said. “Learning more about who is out there in your community can help when there is a need and helps us be able to serve them better.”

For anyone who is hosting a neighborhood party on Aug. 2 and would like fire and police to stop by the event, email Sgt. Dave Hunt at huntd@wyomingmi.gov.

Aug. 7 millage vote will maintain public safety services

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

Even with a six percent increase in fire and emergency calls in 2017, the City of Wyoming has been able to achieve a 4 minute and 27 second response time throughout the city.

 

And in some areas of the city, such as the southwest end, those response times have improved to just over three minutes with the re-opening of the Gezon fire station to 24/7 and the addition of two quick response vehicles.

 

The city plans to maintain those response times and its level of service through the passage of a permanent renewal of its 1.25 mills for public safety, which is on tomorrow’s primary ballot. Chief Kim Koster credits a number of programs that have been developed over the past eight years — when the millage was first approved — that have helped provide more efficiencies within the department so the city could maintain services to its residents.

 

One of those programs was the training of 22 city employees from the parks and recreation and public works departments as firefighters. This training allowed the department to call upon the employees to help with fires and other emergency calls when needed.

 

From the Wyoming Department of Public Safety 2017 Annual Report.

“So in a matter of minutes we would have more than the eight or nine firefighters that we had on, but we could have fourteen or fifteen people who are trained in fire to an emergency,” Koster said during a recent interview on WKTV Journal In Focus. “That definitely increased our service to the community and gave us a lot. It also really provided safety for our firefighters as well because they had more (people) on the scene.”

 

The program is unique and Koster said she is not aware of another city that has trained city employees to be firefighters.

 

“We do have paid on-call as well, but in today’s society it is more difficult for employers to let a volunteer or a paid on-called firefighter to leave their job to go fight a fire,” Koster said, adding that the paid-on call staff are still important to the department.

 

“Between the part-time, the paid on-call and those dual-trained employees, we feel we are addressing our staffing issues efficiently and using tax dollars very wisely with that,” Koster said.

 

The city also purchased two quick response vehicles, medical vehicles that have firefighting capability, Koster said. These vehicles only require two people to man versus an engine which needs three to four. 

 

“So we were able to put two of those machines out along with an engine from our fleet and we would have three vehicles that would respond to emergencies versus the two,” Koster said. “So we increased our response times to our citizens that way.” 

 

Chase, the Wyoming K-9 dog, at a recent public safety open house.

Also in the fire department, three full-time firefighters have been added and a program was instituted to utilized part-time staff during high call volumes to help increase staff. 

 

In the police department, the city has been able to save dollars through consolidations and collaborations with other area departments that included the centralized 911 dispatch, Koster said. The police department is also accredited, which only about one percent in the United States are.

 

“And that, I believe, really tells the taxpayers that we take our job seriously,” Koster said. “That we are accountable and we are transparent using their tax dollars to the best of our abilities.”  

 

Showing that the city would use the money raised from the public safety to the best of its abilities was a key reason that the city decided to seek only a five-year millage in 2010, according to Major Jack Poll.

 

“So we went with the five-year millage so that after five years we could go back and say this is what we promised, this is what we accomplished,” he said.

 

However with costs continuing to climb and state funding shrinking, city officials see a need for those funds in order to maintain the current level of public safety services, which is why the 2018 proposal seeks a permanent renewal, Poll said.

Local Latin rock group Cabildo brings a fiery performance to Wyoming’s Concerts in the Park

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , , ,

Cabildo performs July 10 at Wyoming’s Concerts in the Park.

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

Tuesday night in the City of Wyoming is going to be a busy one as there will be a Wyoming Department of Public Safety community open house and the Concerts in the Park return to Lamar Park.

 

Open House

 

The Public Safety Community Open House will take place from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Gezon Fire Station, located near the corner go Gezon Parkway and Byron Center Avenue. Residents will have a chance to tour the facility, which has the new Metro Health – University of Michigan Health helicopter pad. The event is free and open to the public.

 

Concerts in the Park

 

After a week hiatus, the Wyoming Concerts in the Park return with Grand Rapids-based Cabildo taking the stage at 7 p.m. 

 

Known for its Latin-flavor music, Cabildo has been around for 12 years and released its first album, “Sin Fronteras,” earlier this year. 

 

The group is a collective with several area musicians who have performed with the group, according to those who have performed with the band. The constant in the band have been the group’s frontman, Julio Cano Villalobos (guitar, accordion, and vocals) and Julio Cesar Viveros Cuevas (guitar and vocals.) Villalobos is from Chile and Cuevas is from Mexico. All of the Cabildo’s music is in Spanish. 

 

The shows are known to be fiery, celebrating the group’s Latin American roots with a blend of cambia, folk, rock, ska music and more that get throngs bobbing and dancing. The group’s recent album has a political charge to it with “Sin Fronteras” meaning “without borders,” reflecting the plight of immigrants to the United States.

 

According to Michigan Radio, Cabildo is a nine-piece band with lots of moving parts “and when it all comes together on stage, it’s something to see and hear.”

 

The Wyoming Concerts in the Park series are put together by the Wyoming Community Enrichment Commission. The concerts are every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Lamar Park through Aug. 14. The concerts are rebroadcast on WKTV Wednesdays at 5 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 10 p.m.

City of Wyoming promotes Maguffee to police captain

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , ,

Capt. Jim Maguffee (right) with newly appointed Fire Chief Brian Bennett (left)

The City of Wyoming has promoted Lt. James Maguffee to administrative captain in police services. He takes over the position that was vacated by Chief Kim Koster upon her recent promotion. In this role, Maguffee will oversee the department’s administrative processes such as those related to accreditation, annual reporting, internal affairs, public information and grant funding.

 

Maguffee began his career with the Flint Police Department where he served for seven years before joining the Wyoming Department of Public Safety in January of 1998.

 

He was promoted to sergeant in 2005 and specialized in patrol operations, investigations and community services.  He served as a member of the department’s motorcycle unit and is the current leader of the department’s Honor Guard.  In 2012, Maguffee earned a promotion to lieutenant where he worked as a patrol commander, oversaw the department’s community policing efforts, and was eventually assigned as the investigative division commander.

 

“For the past three-and-a-half years, Jim’s leadership of the Investigative Division has been instrumental in the department’s ability to bring some of our most challenging and intricate cases to a successful conclusion,” Koster said.  “I look forward to his contributions to the overall direction of the administration of our Public Safety Department.”

 

Maguffee is a graduate of Cornerstone University and Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff & Command.  He currently serves as an adjunct instructor for both the Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University police academy programs.

 

Recently, the City of Wyoming also promoted Brian Bennett to the position of fire chief. Bennett has been with the city since 2015. Bennett has served in fire services for more than 30 years and received his initial certifications from the Rockford Fire Academy. Bennett plans to continue working on the department’s commitment to customer service through the efficient delivery of emergency meeting services. For more on Bennett, click here.

 

Public comment welcomed as Wyoming’s Public Safety Department seeks accreditation

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A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will arrive on Monday, Nov. 6, to examine all aspects of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety policy and procedures, management, operations and support services, Chief James Carmody announced today.

 

“Obtaining confirmation that the Wyoming Department of Public Safety meets the standards set forth by the Commission is part of the process by which we achieve professional excellence.  Accreditation is consistent with our mission to ‘efficiently and effectively manage our resources to deliver the highest level of police service to the Citizens of Wyoming’”, Carmody said.

 

As a part of the on-site assessment, the public and agency employees are invited to offer comments on the agency’s services and overall performance at a public information session to be held at 5:30 on Tuesday, Nov. 7,  at the Wyoming Senior Center building located at 2380 DeHoop Avenue SW.

 

If, for some reason, an individual cannot speak at the public information session but would like to provide comments to the assessment team, he/she may do so by telephone. The public may call 616-530-7313 on Tuesday, Nov 7, between the hours of 1 and 3 p.m.

 

The telephone comments as well as those made at the public information session are limited to 5 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with the Commission’s standards.  A copy of the standards is available at the Wyoming Public Safety Department.  For further information, contact Lt. Mark Easterly at 616-530-7308.

 

Persons wishing to offer written comments about the Wyoming Department of Public Safety’s ability to meet the standards for accreditation are requested to write:  Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia, 20155.

 

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety must comply with 484 standards in order to maintain accredited status. The assessment team is comprised of law enforcement practitioners from similar, but out-of-state agencies. The team will review written materials, interview individuals, tour the facilities, and visit offices and other places where compliance can be witnessed. Once their review is complete, the assessors will report back to the full Commission which will then decide if the agency is to be granted reaccredited status. Accreditation is for the next four years, during which the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited. The Wyoming Department of Public Safety was originally accredited in 2012.

 

For more information regarding the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. please write the Commission at 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia, 20155 or call 800-368-3757 or 703-352-4225 or www.calea.org.