Tag Archives: Kim Koster

Wyoming Public Safety secures national accreditation for fourth time

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Wyoming, Crime Prevention, Hard News, , ,

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

In March, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety installed license plate readers. Within six months, it has been able to identify and recover 13 stolen vehicles and arrest 18 suspects.

“The real story is that we are able to find missing persons,” said Chief Kim Koster. “If an older family member gets into a car and takes off and the family cannot find the person, we can enter the person’s license plate number into the reader. If the person has passed a reader, it will let us know and give us an idea where to start searching for that missing person.”

From left, CALEA Executive Director Craig Hartley, Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt, Wyoming Public Safety Chief Kimberly Koster,, Wyoming Sergeant Jeremy Walter, Wyoming Captain Eric Wier, Wyoming Lt. Brian Look, and CALEA Commissioner Marcus Brown. (Supplied)

Through that process, the department has been able to find two missing persons since March.

 

It is because of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety‘s commitment to utilizing best practices in law enforcement that it has earned its fourth in a row accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This includes implementing new technology, such as the license plate readers, as well as reviewing policies and procedures.

Meeting the standards

CALEA is considered the “gold standard in public safety.” Of the approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety is one of 770 agencies nationwide that has CALEA accreditation. It is one of 12 in the State of Michigan. Wyoming received accreditation in 2012.

Wyoming Department of Public Safety Chief Kim Koster (Supplied)

“It is the blueprint for success for a department,” Koster said. “I always say it is the people, our officers, who make the department where we work but CALEA helps to organize us and achieve our goals.”

Reaccreditation happens every four years. To receive reaccreditation, the department must provide proof every year that the agency is in compliance with about 180 of the 452 CALEA standards. Commissioners review different guidelines each year and on the fourth year, all 452 standards are reviews with assessors coming to the department to meet with officers and the public, and department officials coming before the Commission.

“Today, one of the things that departments need to do in general is to be transparent and accountable,” Koster said. “By having this accreditation, we are doing both and it assures the public that we are performing the best practices in law enforcement.

Keeping Up-to-date

Once such practice that came out during the 2020 George Floyd situation was the development of the duty to intervene policy, which the Wyoming Department of Public Safety has incorporated.

“While it was the expectation that an officer would intercede and help de-escalate a situation when he or she sees the use of of force in excess, departments did not have that as a policy,” Koster said.

CALEA also provides direction on other police activities such as witness identification of suspect, best practices in training, evidence handling and storage, and recruiting.

In fact, by being a part of CALEA, the department has the opportunity to learn about what others across the nation are doing in police and public safety. Koster said during the reaccreditation process, the assessors asked about areas the department was looking for assistance. She chose recruiting and was offered a number of ideas including working with MichiganWorks!

But it is not only reviewing policies to assure they are meeting current modern-day needs, but also keeping up on technology and the possibilities of how it can help in police work. That encouragement to consider new ideas is what lead to the department purchasing the license plate readers.

Following the road map

“This is a map in how we should be doing things,” Koster said. “For example, in training, it focuses on best practices in such items as the use of the force, handling calls or helping someone with a mental health issue. By making sure that you are revisiting that topic every year, it assures that you are using the most update-to-date information and techniques.”

CALEA was formed in 1979 through the combined efforts of four major law enforcement organizations: the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriff’s Association, and the Police Executive Research Form. The main purpose of the Commission is to develop standards based on international best practices in public safety, and to establish and administer the accreditation process which looks at how a department meets recognized criteria for excellence in management and service delivery. Accreditation is voluntary. 

Wyoming Chief Koster appointed to state law enforcement standards board

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Community Health, Local Faces, Our Cities, West Michigan, , , ,

By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

Chief Kim Koster

Wyoming Director of Public Safety Kimberly Koster has been appointed to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Serving the residents of Michigan through the promotion of public safety since 1965, MCOLES provides leadership through setting professional standards in education, selection, employment, licensing and funding in law enforcement and criminal justice in both the public and private sectors.

Koster was selected to represent the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police on MCOLES for a nearly three-year term that ends Dec. 31, 2025. She succeeds recently retired Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne.

Wyoming Chief Kim Koster with former Kentwood Chief Thomas Hillen during a National Night Out event. (WKTV)

“I am honored to be appointed to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and to represent my fellow police chiefs on this esteemed board,” Koster said. “I look forward to continuing the exemplary work of MCOLES to ensure our communities are safe, our officers are well-trained and our criminal justice system is supported.”

Koster has been Wyoming’s director of public safety for nearly four years, leading a team of 151 full-time personnel that includes 99 sworn police officers and 29 full-time firefighters.

Before becoming chief, Koster served as a captain within the department for eight years. In this role, she assisted with the formation of the Public Safety Department through the administrative consolidation of police and fire services, created a new staffing model, facilitated dispatch operation transitions and led a collaborative effort in the development of the department’s five-year strategic plan.

Prior to that, she worked her way up through the ranks to detective, sergeant and lieutenant. A 26-year veteran of the department, she began her career with Wyoming as a school resource and community policing officer. In this role, she worked with neighborhood groups and organized community events to bridge gaps and build solidarity among neighbors.

Wyoming Chief Kim Koster reads “Valenstiens” by Ethan Long during the 2021 March is Reading Month celebration. (WKTV)

Throughout her career, Koster has been recognized with several commendations, including the Life Saving Award, Chief’s Award of Excellence and Outstanding Young Public Safety Officer.

She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has completed the Leadership Institute training hosted by Grand Rapids Police Department and the Police and Staff Command training hosted by Northwestern University.

Koster received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Grand Valley State University and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Ferris State University.

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.

Wyoming voters to see public safety millage on August ballot

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

Officers at the schools, property checks at businesses and residences, the re-opening of the Gezon Fire Station — these are just some of the accomplishments that the Wyoming Department of Public Safety has been able to complete in the last eight years when a public safety millage was approved.

 

This Aug. 7, residents are being asked to provide a permanent renewal of the annual levy of 1.25 mills for public safety. For a resident with a home valued at $100,000, the cost will remain at $62.50 per year.

 

A Wyoming Public Safety firefighter shows how a firehouse works during a recent public safety open house.

“We would like to maintain the level of service we have been able to provide this far and in order to do that those funds would be needed to continue the operations and maintain the efficiencies built into some of our models here for public safety,” said Wyoming Department of Public Safety Chief Kim Koster during a recent interview with WKTV.

 

Police and fire services account for 65 percent of the all spending from the city’s general fund. In 2010, when the millage was first proposed and passed, the city was facing declining state funding, the loss of the General Motors Stamping Plant and falling property values. Voters approved a renewal in 2014. Today, while home values have started to increase, Wyoming has faced continued cuts in state funding and its revenue status remains largely the same.

 

Through its new Pubic Safety service delivery model, the department has created many efficiencies and cost savings. One of those measures lead to the re-opening of the Gezon Fire Station which also now houses the Metro Health – University of Michigan Heath’s helipad.

 

“So through some creative staffing models we have been able to staff this Wyoming fire station out here on the south end of Wyoming for 24 hours, seven days a week,” Koster said. “In addition to that we have added two quick response vehicles. They are able to respond from [the Gezon] Fire Station as well as our central fire station that way we don’t have to take an engine to a medical call, and get there a lot faster and more efficient that way.”

 

One of the Wyoming Department of Public Safety K-9s meets with his fans.

The opening of the Gezon Fire Station and the addition of the quick-response vehicles has helped to reduce response times, according to a recent city report. Other accomplishments by the department include:

 

·       Achieved and maintained Gold-Standard police accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., putting the department in the top one percent of law enforcement agencies nationwide.

 

·       Provided a professional public safety response to more than 37,000 calls for service every year

 

·       Implemented efforts to visit every school in Wyoming each school day, totaling 5,738 school visits last year

 

·       Conducted daily and nightly visits to businesses, making 8,606 contacts and 6,852 closed business checks in 2017

 

·       Equipped every police cruiser with an automated external defibrillator, or AED,  as well as supplying every officer with Naloxone, which reverses the effects of overdoses

 

·       Increased forensic laboratory capabilities providing faster, more comprehensive results which have contributed to a higher success rate in solving crime

 

·       Added three full-time fire fighters

 

·       Utilized part-time employees to implement a peak load staffing model which employs more staff during times of high call volume

 

·       Crossed-trained and licensed 22 City employees as firefighters and utilized paid-on-call staff

 

·       Secured grants that allowed staff to become licensed as EMTs and purchase CPR assisted compression devices

 

Residents can learn more about the millage on the city’s website at wyomingmi.gov/publicsafety or by calling 616-530-7272.

 

Wyoming City Council promotes Kimberly Koster to Public Safety chief

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, , , ,

Capt. Kim Koster has been named the new Wyoming Pubic Safety Chief. She will be sworn in on April 25.

In a unanimous vote, the Wyoming City Council has named Kimberly Koster its new director of public safety during its regular April 16 meeting. She will be sworn in Wednesday, April 25.

 

In this role, Koster will lead a team of nearly 130 full-time personnel, including 86 sworn police officers and 29 full-time firefighters. She is the first woman to lead the Department of Public Safety. Koster will replace Chief James E. Carmody, who will retire on April 26 after more than four decades of service in public safety – including 11 with the City of Wyoming.

 

““Capt. Koster has been an exceptional officer and instrumental member of our public safety team, and I am fully confident she will soar in this new role,”” said Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt. “”She has gone above and beyond in her various positions, and I believe is a role model and trusted figure for our residents.

“”We look forward to seeing her future accomplishments as she leads our public safety team in its ongoing mission to protect and to serve our community.””

 

With more than two decades of law enforcement experience, Koster began her career with Wyoming as a school resource and community policing officer. In this position, she worked with neighborhood groups and organized community events to bridge gaps and build solidarity among neighbors.

 

She worked her way up through the ranks to detective, sergeant, lieutenant and, most recently, captain, a position she has held since 2010. In this role, she assisted with the formation of the Public Safety Department through the administrative consolidation of police and fire services, created a new staffing model, facilitated dispatch operation transitions and led a collaborative effort in the development of the department’s five-year strategic plan.

 

““It has been an honor to watch Capt. Koster grow professionally and to form such strong bonds of trust with colleagues and the public,”” Chief Carmody said. ““This department has some of the very best public safety professionals.  They work extremely hard, and Kim is at the forefront of this team.

 

““I have complete confidence in her ability and look forward to watching her take this department to the next level, while providing second-to-none police and fire services to our community.””

 

As the chief of police and fire services, Koster plans to develop strategies that will improve the delivery of the department’s public safety services. She will ensure the open and lasting dialogue necessary to keep the community safe is maintained and members of the community are served with dignity, respect, fairness and compassion.

 

““The Wyoming community has been such an incredible place to begin and to progress in my career,”” Koster said. “”Chief Carmody has been a phenomenal mentor, and I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to take the reins and lead this first-rate public safety department, which is committed to exceptional service and strong community relations.””

 

Throughout her career, Koster has been recognized with several commendations, including the Life Saving Award, Chief’s Award of Excellence, Outstanding Young Public Safety Officer and Safe Driving Award.

 

 

She served as a 911 communications supervisor, during which time she led the consolidation of police and fire operations in multiple communities, including Wyoming’’s, move to Kent County. She has also served as lead detective in homicide investigations and as a crisis negotiator, among other critical roles throughout her career.

 

With a commitment to training, she graduated with Class 251 of the FBI National Academy. She also attended the Leadership Institute training hosted by Grand Rapids Police Department and the Police and Staff Command training hosted by Northwestern University.

 

Koster received her associates degree from Grand Rapids Junior College, her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Grand Valley State University and her master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Ferris State University.

 

She resides in Grand Rapids with her wife, Marie, and three of her children, Bonham, Cash and Jett. She also has two adult stepchildren, Samantha and Alex.