Public Safety
About Public Safety
Personal safety and the safety of private property are the primary goals of the city’s Department of Public Safety. The city has provided police, fire and ambulance service since 1944. Public Safety officers perform police and firefighter duties and also are cross-trained as medical first responders or basic emergency medical technicians. The department has a complement of 31 sworn officers. The department is responsible for:
- 911 Emergency Service
- Advanced Life Support (ALS)
- Crime Prevention
- Firefighting
- Fire Inspections
- Detective Bureau
- Traffic Safety
- Youth Service Division
- Kindcall
The Public Safety Department operates a four-platoon system that works a 12-hour shift rotation for the patrol force. One public safety officer is on duty at all times to operate the fire trucks (one 2,000 gallons per minute pumpers and one 100-foot Quint). In the event of a structure fire, the fire apparatus and ambulance are met at the scene by patrol officers. In most cases, one or more patrol officers reach the scene of an emergency before the arrival of the fire apparatus. Usually, no fewer than four personnel respond to a fire run, with less serious runs receiving a slightly reduced amount of responding personnel and equipment.
Advanced Life Support
Grosse Pointe Woods provides Advanced Life Support (ALS) for its residents. The ambulance is staffed and provided by Medstar Ambulance. This requires the ambulance to be supported by a paramedic and an emergency medical technician (both licensed by the State) at all times. ALS allows the crew to administer drugs, start IVs, and intubate and defibrillate patients under the authority of the emergency room doctors at the local hospitals. The ambulance is equipped with direct radio communication to all local hospitals.
Detective Bureau
The Detective Bureau handles cases referred to it by the uniformed service. It also investigates all cases which go beyond the Traffic Court level, as well as violations of local ordinances which are non-traffic in nature. The Detective Supervisor oversees the officers of the Youth Service Division, Traffic Safety, and Crime Prevention units of Public Safety. The Youth Service Division, Traffic Safety, and Crime Prevention units work closely with public and private schools to provide educational programs to students and residents.
