KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Western Michigan University (WMU) Police Department is much more than a couple of Rent-a-Cops on bikes, as anyone who has tried speeding or parking illegally on campus can attest.
WMU Police Chief Scott Merlo receives accreditation from the MACP. (Image courtesy John McNeil).
In fact, they just recently won accreditation from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP), a status that only about 5% of the departments in the state can boast.
“After a team of MACP Commission Assessors evaluated the department against 108 best practice standards, including use of force, vehicle pursuit, search and seizure and internal operations, we were granted full accreditation in 2021,” Chief Scott Merlo said.
Merlo adds that the Department has 33 full time officers and ten staff members specifically assigned to parking.
“The Department of Public Safety consists of four divisions with 49 employees,” Merlo said, joking that parking services are “everyone’s favorite.”
Merlo says one of their other divisions monitors and maintains 1400 cameras, a couple thousand alarm systems and access devices, and thousands more locks and key systems.
They contribute officers to the County’s joint SWAT and Early Intervention teams. They also have two bomb sniffing K-9’s and a Community Policing Officer who focuses on students in the Arcadia Neighborhood.
— Copy written by John McNeil —
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