Township Meets with Sheriff’s Department to Discuss Extra Police Coverage on Peninsula

I recently had the opportunity to attend a meeting with Township Supervisor Maura Sanders and members of the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Department, including Sheriff Michael Shea, Captain Brandon Brinks and Lt. Roy Raska.

Discussion took place about a variety of topics, including adding extra police coverage on the Old Mission Peninsula during times like Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when more speeders seem to take to the roads. This is especially prevalent on the Center Road straightaways out near the Lighthouse — a known speeding area for decades.

Shea noted that local townships have a synergistic relationship with the Sheriff’s Department, and if a township requests broader police coverage, they will take that into consideration. He added that being a community police officer (CPO) is not a nine-to-five job, and CPO hours are not posted in order to dissuade unlawful activity during times the public knows that Township CPOs aren’t on duty.

While Peninsula Township CPOs Virnell France and Tony Martinez sometimes work on the Peninsula at the same time, that’s often not the case due to days off, training days and vacation time. They also have other duties within the Sheriff’s Department; for example, one of our CPOs is assigned to drug court eight days out of the month, and the other serves on the dive team, which requires extra training.

For those and other reasons, there may be times when neither of our CPOs are on the Peninsula. Also, if someone is arrested and the CPO has to take that person into the County to be processed, that can take the CPO out of service for four or five hours. If an incident occurs on the Peninsula during that time, other officers from the Sheriff’s Department are available to respond.

Sanders noted that while the Township might not require a third full-time CPO, it would be good to have extra coverage during various times throughout the week. It was agreed that the Sheriff’s Department will work on a plan to make that happen.

Other Notes:

The CPO system was created in the late 1990s in order to develop collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. This helps the community to get to know their law enforcement personnel and resolve problems as they arise.

You might see one of our CPOs at Township meetings. Shea noted that he has no problem with the Township requesting that a CPO be present at a meeting, especially if the meeting might be controversial or contentious.

Shea said that it’s tough to find people willing to go into law enforcement because of the volatility surrounding police work. This is not just in northern Michigan, but a nation-wide trend.

As we have a lot of bicyclists on OMP roads, I asked about the rules surrounding bikers. Shea said they have the right to ride two abreast in the roadway, but must obey all rules of the road. Some confusion may arise when bikers are in the road right-of-way and not specifically on the road — for example, if a biker is on the side of the road rather than the road itself, they don’t necessarily have to stop for stop signs.

If you have a group interested in a presentation from one of our CPOs, contact them. For example, Deputy Martinez has given presentations on awareness and prevention of scams (there is a particularly high incidence of scams on the OMP). Deputy France has given presentations on what to do during an active shooter incident. France is also a senior citizen specialist, and both deputies do wellness checks in the community.

Do you have other questions regarding our police coverage on the OMP? Let me know in the comments at the bottom of the story, and I’ll see what I can find out. Also, I did a ride-along with Deputy Martinez and will work on getting that posted soon, as well.

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