The Village of Paw Paw | Police Department

Paw Paw Police Department

The Paw Paw Police Department is a great asset of the Village of Paw Paw. The department provides law enforcement services 24/7/365 that helps keep Village residents and businesses safe. The Village is approximately 2.5 square miles with a population of 3,363 (2000). The Village is the Van Buren County seat. The department is a respected law enforcement agency in Van Buren County and enjoys positive relations with the County Sheriff, the Michigan State Police and other law enforcement agencies.

Police Chief - Eric Marshall
114 Harry L Bush Blvd.
PO Box 179
Paw Paw, MI 49079
(269) 657-5501 (non emergencies)
911 (emergencies only)
General Mailbox: pppd651@pawpaw.net *
Chief Marshall: e.marshall@pawpaw.net
Office Hours are M-F 7:00 am to 3:00 pm

*pppd651@frontier.com is no longer active, please direct all emails to pppd651@pawpaw.net

History

In the early 70's the Department was made up of a Chief and two officers. They
worked six days a week with one day off. For six hours of the day no one was on duty.
The next officer scheduled was on call for the hours not covered before his shift. When a call came in the dispatcher would contact the officer at home and he would respond.
Throughout the years, officers were added until the current strength of nine was reached in 2002.

The Department first went to 24-hour coverage in the early 80's after a string of
breaking and enterings that took place while the officers were off duty. The Department
officer's schedules rotated weekly between day, afternoon, and night shifts for many years thereafter. A 0-hour shift with officers changing shifts every eight weeks began in 1997. Currently, Officers work a 12-hour shift. In 2011, the Police Department, under the Direction of Chief Eric Marshall began a Community Policing approach to departmental operations.

The department was originally housed in a small room at Village Hall. In 1973 it
moved into the then new DPS building until the current building was built in 1974.
While the current space has served the Department well it has grown to a point where
additional space will be needed in the near future.

Below is a list of past and current Police Chiefs:

Frank Labadie
Grant Root
Wayne Groenendal
George Fadel
John Bonter
Russ Reynnells
Patrick W. Alspaugh
Eric Marshall

Officers are trained in several areas that assist the department in its service to the
community. The following are just a few of those areas:

Crime Scene Evidence Tech
Taser
Empty Hand Self Defense Techniques
Rifle and Pistol
Precision Driving
Narcotics Investigation
Critical Incident Response
Two Field Training Officers

Operations

The Police Department is made up of the following personnel:

Officers:
Chief Eric Marshall
Sgt. Kirk Goodrich
Sgt. Allen Parsell
Officer Eric Rottman
Officer Timothy McMeekan II
Officer Darron Williams
Officer Randy Whitmore
Officer Larry Weers

Office Workers:
Office Manager: Elizabeth Mann
Part/Time Records Assistant, Claudia Barrett

Part/Time Officers:
Part/Time John Bonter
Part/Time Tony Evans

Others:
School Crossing Guard Jerry Tessman
School Crossing Guard Janet Tessman

Equipment

The Department is in the process of transitioning from the Ford Police Interceptor
to the Chevy Impala police vehicle. With this transition, all new patrol vehicles are being
modernized with the latest in public safety equipment. As new vehicles are obtained,
they will be changed over to a traditional black and white color design. The black and
white patrol car has a long history in the United States and is universally recognized as a police vehicle. Additionally the department will change it’s emergency overhead lighting system to all LED lights as new vehicles are assigned to patrol.

Along with the new Impala, the Officers are equipped with:
Sig Sauer P226 .40 caliber handguns, Mobile Data Terminals (MDT’s)
Colt Law Enforcement M-4 Rifles,Mobile Digital Video Cameras
Radar and Lasers for Speed Enforcement, Tasers

Child is Missing Program

The Paw Paw Police Department is a member of the “A Child is Missing
Program” which is located out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This non-profit organization
was created because there was not any telephone based program in this country for
locating missing children, the elderly (Alzheimer’s), or the disabled.

When a person has been reported missing to the Paw Paw Police Department, an
officer calls ACIM and provides pertinent information about the individual to a
technician. Then a personalized alert message is recorded and the technician will call
residents and businesses in the neighborhood where the person is missing. A Child is
Missing can place up to 1000 telephone calls in a targeted area in 60 seconds. Taking
action during the first hours of a person’s disappearance is very critical in helping to save their life.

Mutual Aid

The Paw Paw Police Department is very proud of it’s tradition of working closely
with the Michigan State Police Post 51, Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department and
local police agencies. Officers are dispatched through Van Buren County Central 911
Dispatch.

Contact Information

We are located at 114 Harry L. Bush Blvd, Paw Paw MI. The office hours are
Monday - Friday 7 am-5 pm. After hours, you can contact Van Buren County Dispatch
at 657-3101 and an Officer will contact you as soon as possible. If it is an emergency
call 911. Our fax number is 657-5144. The department’s e-mail is
pppd651@pawpaw.net.

General Information

All Garage sales within the Village require a permit. The permit is good for three
days with two permits per year issued to a single residence. It is also against the village
ordinance to post a garage sale sign anywhere in the Village of Paw Paw except at the
residence where the sale is taking place. Please mow your lawn and keep your property clear of trash and broken down
autos. All vehicles must be running and currently plated, both of these issues are
addressed by ordinance. It is not uncommon for officers to write numerous tickets for
these violations throughout the year.

Parking Information for the Village of Paw Paw

The Village of Paw Paw has a parking ordinance in effect place which govern parking on ALL Village streets and in ALL Village parking lots.

There are over 200 public parking spaces in downtown Paw Paw on streets and in public parking lots.
There are NO parking meters in the Village of Paw Paw.
All public parking spaces are open to the public; none are reserved.
Overnight parking on any Village street or in any Village public parking lots is NOT ALLOWED between December 1st and March 1st. Residents of downtown apartments may purchase an overnight parking pass. These passes may be purchased at Village Hall (111 E. Michigan Avenue). Vehicles parked between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM will be ticketed or towed at owner's expense.

Public Parking Lots can be found...

Behind the Post Office, Village Hall and Township Hall
Behind Lori's Hallmark and other businesses in the 200 block of East Michigan Avenue (North side)
Behind Bistro 120 Restaurant, Warner's hardware and other businesses in the 100 block of E. Michigan (South side).
Facing the Carnegie Center - the DDA and Chamber office - at 129 S. Kalamazoo Street. The spaces facing the building are public.
Lion's Park - along W. Michigan (South side) where the river crosses Michigan Avenue to Maple Lake.

Skateboarding or bicycle riding on sidewalks downtown is not allowed.

For other questions, regarding ordinances please contact our office.
We no longer give out copies of traffic crash reports. You may go to
www.michigan.gov/msp to obtain a copy of a traffic crash report. Copies of other police reports may be requested by contacting Village Hall. Village Hall is located at 111 E. Michigan Avenue, downtown Paw Paw.