Police Department

JOB TITLE:	Community Police Officer
NAME:	Ryan Colley
PHONE:	231-313-5619
JOB FUNCTIONS:	Contracted Deputy Sheriff
REPORTS TO:	Township Board as contracted Grand Traverse Deputy Sheriff
OFFICE HOURS:	40 hours per week – variable schedule

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On Line Reporting [email]

Sent to TWP Supervisors Friday, January 20, 2023 10:57 AM
From GTC Sherrif Brandon Brinks bbrinks@gtsheriff.org

Hello [Supervisors],

In case you saw the news article and press releases relating to the online reporting system I wanted to pass along some info and clarification. The online reporting system was implemented to allow the public to conveniently report low priority complaints through a portal accessed online.  We often spend a great deal of time driving and taking complaints in person that have no suspects or leads. The online reports are all reviewed by a sergeant and if anything is reported that looks to have information that can be followed up on the report is assigned to a deputy to investigate further. The program was implemented this week and a sergeant already identified one that looked like something more could be done. A deputy was assigned and was able to identify and interview the suspect which will lead to a report being submitted to the prosecutor’s office for a warrant. 

We also understand the importance of community relations especially when a township is paying for additional services by a community police officer. If someone calls wanting to report to the community police officer a complaint that qualifies for the online reporting and says that they want face to face interaction with the deputy they will still need to go online and complete the report however the CPO can be notified and can then follow-up in person with the township resident at a later time after reviewing the report to make a determination if anything else can be done such a canvass of the neighborhood for witnesses, camera’s, etc.  We want the townships that have cpos to know that if needed, a face-to-face interaction will still occur for the citizens of the township. 

The online reporting allows us to have complaints that citizens would not typically report because of having to wait for a deputy or drive into the law enforcement center to have an easy way to make the report. Our intention is to free up time for deputies to work on higher priority cases, keep up on reports from previous calls throughout the day, and deal with in-progress complaints like crashes, crimes in progress, etc. It also will allow us to collect information on crimes, locations, and trends more easily. A big asset to the program we have seen already is the collection and cataloging of tips any time we need help from the public. 

I believe the program will be a success and a benefit to the citizens of our communities but as always with change comes issues that have to be worked through. There will be people that don’t have access to a computer, or a way to make a complaint online and those issues will be handled through the on-duty sergeant and central dispatch. If any of you have any issues, please reach out to your CPO or me with questions. 

The program is very user friendly and will not allow for the reporting of anything outside of its parameters.  The link for the online reporting is: Citizen On-Line Reporting | Grand Traverse County, MI

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Broad Statement of Responsibilities

The community police officer’s duties are to protect and serve township residents as a uniformed officer from the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Department. The officer acts in all capacities of the sheriff’s department for the township. Monthly reports are provided to the township board, at their regularly scheduled meetings, on activities of investigation and related enforcement of the law.

For general information contact Deputy Colley at 231-313-5619

For police emergency service DIAL 911

Email: rcolley@gtsheriff.org

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