HomePaw 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.
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Police Chief - Eric Marshall
114 Harry L Bush Blvd.
PO Box 179
Paw Paw, MI 49079
(269) 657-5501 (non emergencies)
911 (emergencies only)
pppd651@frontier.com
Office Hours are M-F 7:00 am to 3:00 pm
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. The current
schedule of 10-hour shifts with officers changing shifts every eight weeks began in 1997.
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
Current Chief - Vacant
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 Vacant
Sgt. Goodrich
Officer Allen Parsell
Officer Ronald Huston
Officer Eric Rottman
Officer Todd Brower
Office Workers:
Office Manager: Elizabeth Mann
Part/Time Officers:
Part/Time Timothy McMeekan II
Part/Time John Bonter
Part/Time
Randy Whitmore and Ofc
Part/Time
Darron Williams
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@verizon.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.
Ordinance Information
The Village has a parking ordinance for all city streets and parking lots that is in
effect December 1st-March 1st. Vehicles shall not be parked on city streets from 3 am
until 6 am and parking is not allowed in city parking lots between 3 am and 6 am except
for designated parking spots. This ordinance is strictly enforced with no exceptions.
There is no skateboarding or bike riding on the sidewalks in the downtown business
district. Any violators are subject to a fine.
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. If you wish a copy of
any other report you may contact our office and for a fee obtain a copy of your report.
