Department History

The City of Bloomfield Hills City Charter established the positions of Chief of Police and Chief of Fire Department on August 5, 1932. During the first 30 years of the City’s history, an elected City Commissioner was appointed to serve in a role referred to as “Police Commissioner”. While an elected official served in an advisory role as the Police Commissioner, the City hired and promoted staff to the positions of Chief of Police and Chief of Fire Department, per the City Charter. As early as 1960, Mr. James Fowler was serving as the Chief of Police and Mr. Eldon Adernoldt was appointed the Chief of Fire Department.

In the mid 1970’s the city leaders began a bold initiative: creating a Public Safety Department in lieu of separate police and fire departments. Mr. Robert Stadler served as the first Director of Public Safety. At that point, employees had to be cross-trained. Today, the residents of Bloomfield Hills are still protected by cross-trained firefighters, police officers, and medical first responders. This style of police and fire management saves the taxpayers the expense of funding two separate departments and ensures rapid response times with 24/7 coverage by a staff of highly trained experts.

Today the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety is staffed by 24 full time sworn personnel, three full time dispatchers and three part-time dispatchers. The personnel assigned to Public Safety work 24-hour shifts. During their tour, they spend eight hours on the road in the capacity of a police patrol officer. As a patrol officer their firefighting equipment is in the trunk of their vehicle so that they are prepared to respond to fire emergencies. The remainder of their day is spent on fire duty at the station. Fire duty consists of doing chores, conducting and attending trainings, and most importantly they are on stand-by for fire and medical emergencies when they arise.

In 2018 The Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety became a Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police accredited law enforcement agency. Within the same time frame the Department also received a public protection classification of 3 out of 10 from the Insurance Service Offices (ISO). The ISO Class 3 rating ranks us among the elite 3% of not just Public Safety Departments, but all Fire Departments across the Nation. Furthermore, as of this publication the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety is one of only three of the 31 true public safety departments in the state of Michigan to achieve this rating.

Media inquiries can be directed to the office of the Director at (248) 644-4200.