The Waterford Police occupied the lower left office. Photo was taken in 1953 or 1954.   Raymond Wilhelm and Elk in 1966. Fatal accident on Dixie Highway on September 16, 1958

1952

On October 4th, 1952 at a meeting of the Waterford Township Board of Trustees Treasurer Helen Reese made a motion to authorize the Township Supervisor to study the steps necessary to create a police force to serve Waterford Township. At that time the Waterford Township Board included Supervisor Lloyd L. Anderson, Clerk Louis G. Barry, Treasurer Helen Reese, Justice of the Peace William VanZandt and Justice of the Peace Donald White.

1953

Based on the results of the study presented to the Township Board, Ordinance Eighteen was drafted, forming the basis of the Waterford Township Police Department. On October 3rd, 1953 the Waterford Township Board of Trustees unanimously passed Ordinance Eighteen, establishing the Waterford Township Police Department. The Township Board of Trustees included Supervisor Lloyd L. Anderson, Clerk Louis Barry, Treasurer Helen Reese, Trustee Oscar Loomis, and Trustee Roy Olsen.

Once the Waterford Township Police Department was established a Chief of Police was needed to oversee the day to day operations of the Department. At the October 7th, 1953 meeting a list of possible candidates was presented. This list included the following individuals:

Clarence E. Benner*	Frederick R. Stephens
Donald J. Bremer*	Dale Swanson
Charles E. Coker	MacVean Kennedy Sweazey*
Wilson G. Gardner*	Frank VanAtta*
William A. Goodfellow	Donald L. Wall*
Milton C. Jones*	Loyal Wertz*
George W. Purdy	Charles Whitlock

* An asterisk indicates the individuals that were called for oral interviews before the Township Board.
 
On October 17th, 1953 Frank VanAtta was appointed the First Waterford Township Chief of Police, earning a yearly salary of $5,500. In November of 1953 the first patrolmen were hired to protect Waterford Township. They included:

Merrill Finkle	Frank Randolph
John N. Forbush	William C. Stokes
Donald Gravlin	Charles Whitlock
Millard Pender

The first three patrol cars, 1953 two-door Pontiac Specials, were purchased on November 12th, 1953 from Keego Sales at a cost of $1,662.78 per car.

1954

On January 1st, 1954 Waterford Township Clerk Louis Barry officially swore in all the police personnel. Mary Sutherland served as the first Waterford Township Police Department secretary until December 27th, 1954.

On July 19th, 1954 a motion was made by Trustee Barry, supported by Trustee Loomis, that Chief Frank VanAtta be dismissed as Chief of Police, no reason was given. The motion was tabled due to a lack of support. At that time Trustee Robert Bliss made a motion that Trustee Loomis take charge of the Police Department until the matter could be resolved. The motion passed with a 4 to 1 vote. At the July 26th, 1954 Township Board meeting the matter was removed from the table. Chief of Police Frank VanAtta was accused of engaging in partisan politics, failure to cooperate with other departments, and disregarding instructions. At this time the accusations against Chief VanAtta were accepted into the Township Board Minutes. At some unknown point between the July 19th, 1954 and the July 26th, 1954 Township Board meetings Chief VanAtta was dismissed. At the July 26th, 1954 meeting his dismissal was approved by the Township Board.

There was an overwhelming display of public support backing Chief VanAtta at the August 2nd, 1954 Township Board meeting. The attendance was so large that the meeting had to be held on the lawn of Township Hall (south-east corner of M-59 [Highland Road] and Crescent Lake Road) to accommodate the crowd. Petitions with over 3,700 signatures of Waterford Township citizens in support of Chief VanAtta were presented to the Board. The petitions called for the reinstatement of Chief VanAtta. As a result of the public outcry at the August 9th, 1954 Township Board meeting, Chief VanAtta was reinstated with full back pay. A resolution was prepared explaining that Township Supervisor Lloyd Anderson accepted the responsibility for a number of the charges brought against Chief VanAtta.

1955

On January 3rd, 1955 the Township Board approved the first department Rules and Regulations Manual. Noteworthy sections include the statement that Police Department applicants "must be at least 5’10" tall and not over 6’4" in height, of normal weight (minimum of 165 pounds) capable of reading and writing the English language understandingly" (Section 3, Paragraph 1). That the hours of work for the patrol division were set at "(6) days, eight (8) hours per day, with a lunch period of not more than thirty (30) minutes allowed. The seventh day the officer will be off duty." (Section 9, Paragraph 26) And that "No member of the department shall join any union". (Section 10, Paragraph 45)

In September of 1955 Mrs. Esther Dodson was hired as the first civilian radio operator (dispatcher/ telecommunicator).

1956

In July of 1956 the Township Board approved that the officers of the department could start a flying club, with the stipulation that the "time involved for same is not to be used for the Township or Police work whatsoever."

1957

At the April 20th, 1957 meeting of the Township Board discussion took place regarding the reasons why the Township Board must modify the Police Department to operate on a budget of $5000 per month. At that time the Department consisted of fifteen officers and three radio operator-typists. The Township Board voted to reduce the staff of the Township Police Department by laying off eight patrolmen and two radio operators. Two days later the Township Board increased the Police Department budget $5,305.62, allowing for the reinstatement of one patrolman and one radio operator. As the financial situation of the Police Department darkened Chief VanAtta was laid off on June 17th, 1957. This reduced the Department to Captain Pender, three patrolmen, and one radio operator and reduced the Police Department budget to $2,708 per month. It cannot be determined whether or not any of these officers were called back to duty.

On October 21st, 1957 the Township Board made a motion to establish the Waterford Township Police Reserves. Their duty was to assist the Waterford Township Police Department. The official name of this group was the Civil Defense – Police Auxiliary Officers. The only known original shoulder patch from the Civil Defense – Police Auxiliary hangs in the patch display in the lobby of the Waterford Police Station. The first know officers of this group and the instatement date are as follows:

Loren Anderson – 11/5/1957	Thomas Peterson – 11/5/1957
Harvey Gilchrist – 11/12/1957	David Putnam – 11/8/1957
Clayton Hall – 11/12/1957	David Roberts – 11/9/1957
Steven M. Hubbell – 11/5/1957

On November 4th, 1957 David Roberts was hired as a traffic officer, creating the Department’s Traffic Bureau.

1958

On April 1st, 1958 Captain Millard Pender was promoted to the rank of Chief of Police, earning a salary of $6,500 per year. On June 30th, 1958 based on Chief Pender’s recommendation Patrolman William Stokes was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, placing his salary at $5,670 per year. Also Patrolman Frank Randolph was promoted to the rank of Sergeant with a yearly salary of $5,460.

1959

On July 13th, 1959 the yearly salaries were set for the Police Department personnel. The salary range was as follows:

Chief – $6,500	Patrolman 4 – $5252
Captain – $5824	Patrolman 3 – $5096
Lieutenant – $5720	Patrolman 2 – $4940
Detective – $5564	Patrolman 1 – $4836
Sergeant – $5460

A clothing allowance for the Chief, Captain, Detectives, and Lieutenants was set at $150.00 yearly. A Patrolman moved up in rank by recommendation of the Chief of Police and a vote of the Township Board.

The first radio system used by the Department was leased from Oakland County. On August 17th, 1959 the Township Board approved payment of the lease, the amounts were as follows:

• August 1, 1956 through December 31, 1956 $22.20
• January 1,1957 through December 31, 1957 $53.32
• January 1, 1959 through July 1, 1959 $26.66

On August 31st, 1959 the Township Board reestablished the Police Department under Act 181 of the Public Acts of the State of Michigan, 1951. The roster of officers at that time included:

Chief – Millard J. Pender	Patrolman – Richard E. Beckman
Lieutenant – William Stokes	Patrolman – Thomas P. Farrell
Sergeant – Brent Hart	Patrolman – Ronald Freeman
Sergeant – Merrill Finkle	Patrolman – Charles Griffith
Sergeant – Frank Randolph	Patrolman – Thomas L. Kretz
Detective – John Forbush	Patrolman – David Putnam
Detective –Ernest Mann

In December of 1959 the Township Board agreed that there was a need to expand the "police quarters" rewarding the Police Department a material allowance of $365.83. It was further resolved that all work was to be furnished by off duty patrolman. The amount of their compensation was to be determined by the Township Supervisor.

In December 1959 there was an attempt made to govern the hiring of Police Department employees by Civil Service Act 78. The Township Board voted this idea down. At some point between December 1959 and 1962 the Civil Service Act 78 was adopted to govern the hiring of officers.

1960

On May 31st, 1960 the Police Department purchased two portable radios. The radios were Motorola Motrac Two-Ways at a cost of $676 each.

At some point between 1954 and 1960 the Police Department’s Offices were moved from Township Hall into the east end of the Water Department (small red brick building on M-59 [Highland Road] next to the Old Township Hall). In March of 1965 the Water Department moved to their new building located on the Civic Center grounds (Crescent Lake Road and Tubbs Road). This allowed the Police Department to utilize the entire building. As the Department grew, a doublewide trailer was added to the rear of the building to house the Records Bureau, Detective Bureau, and the Administrative Offices. A stairwell was constructed to connect the trailer to the building. The lower portion of the building housed the front desk, Dispatch, the locker room, the briefing room, the Traffic Bureau, the Sergeants’ Offices, booking, the Evidence Bureau, and storage areas.

1961

A reorganization of the command structure of the Police Department took place in February of 1961. It was as follows:

Chief – Millard Pender	Patrolman – Richard Breckman
Captain – William Stokes*	Patrolman – Thomas Farrell
Uniformed Lieutenant – Frank Randolph	Patrolman – Neil King
Sergeant – David Putnam	Patrolman – Raymond Wilhelm
Sergeant – Charles Griffith	Patrolman – Frederick St.Souver
Sergeant – Merrill Finkle	Patrolman – Alton Doud
Detective – Ernest Mann	Patrolman – Richard Rosner
Detective – Brent Hart	Typists – Ruth Hargraves
Detective – Arthur Holmes	Typists – Florence Corwin
Patrolman – Ronald Freeman

* An asterisk denotes a newly created position.

The Reserve force was increased to 14.

Waterford Township became a Chartered Township on September 14th, 1961, causing the Police Department to be reorganize in accordance with Section 12 of Act 359 P.A. 1947. At this time the rank of Chief of Police was changed to Marshall for a short time.

1962

New uniforms were purchased for the officers in 1962. Officers were responsible for providing their own uniforms. The uniform consisted of slate gray trousers with black stripes, gray oxford shirts, gray oxford caps, light gray ties, and black shoes.

1964

On June 18th, 1964 our current Township Supervisor Carl W. Solden, elected Township Supervisor November 2000, joined the Waterford Police Reserve Unit. In February 1966 Carl W. Solden became a full-time Waterford Township Police Officer serving until retiring after 34 years, February 1998.

The Waterford Township Police Department is continuing its research. If you have stories, artifacts, or any other historic information please email Sergeant Scott Good or call him at (248) 618-7470.