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PAGE 4 ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN August 3, 2023

SUMPTER
SUMPTER

Death of former township police chief mourned

Retired Sumpter Township County Sheriff's Department. ing with the residents in atten- and the robust, responsive, and
Chief of Police James Pierce Following his time as deputy dance. efficient department we have
died July 26, 2023. Mr. Pierce sheriff, Mr. Pierce took the posi- In August of 2014, Mr. Pierce today.”
served as chief of police in the tion of police commander with accepted the nomination from Mr. Pierce, who enjoyed
township from 2006 until 2016. the Sumpter Township Police the late Lee Targgart, owner of watching horror and science fic-
Mr. Pierce was born Jan.12, Department and after serving in Sumpter Ace Hardware, to par- tion movies with his grandchil-
1950 in Detroit, the son of James that capacity for two years, was ticipate in the “ice bucket chal- dren, was also an avid motorcy-
and Marilyn Pierce. He served in appointed as the Sumpter lenge” to bring awareness to clist. He was a member of the
the United States Navy and was Township Police Chief in 2006. ALS. He, along with officers and Forces of Magnitude motorcycle
honorably discharged from serv- He retired from the department staff, stood in the police depart- club in the early 1970s and after
ice in December of 1971. He was in February 2016. After a short ment parking lot in their uni- officially retiring, he joined the
a 3rd degree Taekwondo Black retirement, he decided he was forms, allowing hundreds of gal- Tuskegee Airmen Motorcycle
Belt and taught karate through not quite ready to give up police lons of ice water to be dumped club in 2019. He enjoyed riding
the Metropolitan Combative Arts work and returned to the City of on them from the bucket of a his Royal Blue 2017 Harley
Dojo. Detroit Police Department in the front loader. Davidson Trike with the motorcy-
Mr. Pierce served in law Police Assistant Training “Chief Pierce treated each of cle club and taking adventures
enforcement for more than 45 Division. Mr. Pierce officially us as members of his family and with the love of his life, Regina. Chief of Police James Pierce
years. He began his career as a retired from police work in 2018. changed the dynamic of the Mr. Pierce was preceded in
City of Detroit Police Officer in Mr. Pierce was remembered police department. He was death by his son, Jalani in 1995 ter-in-law Renee Peterson;
August of 1973. During his fondly and with great respect by proud to be the Chief of Police of and his grandson, Monte in 2022. nieces Christine (Victor)
career, he worked on the chief's members of the Sumpter Sumpter Township and equally Among his survivors left to Ubokudom and Chanay
staff, Internal Affairs, Gaming Township Police Department in proud of the men and women cherish his memory are his wife Peterson; nephews Che Peterson
Division and Executive an official Facebook posting. His who make up the department,” of 53 years, Regina; a sister and Rayan Beane, and best
Protection where he served as love of the annual Sumpter Fest noted a department spokesman. Zandreia Walker; his son James- friend and “brother” Melvin
Mayor Coleman Young's personal was recalled and he always “Chief Pierce created many Rafael (Misty); grandchildren Turner.
security for 10 years. He retired insisted on walking the parade opportunities for members of the Kyana-Jalani, Rafael-Antonio Final arrangements were
from the City of Detroit Police route from Judd to Dunn Road. department to excel through edu- (Becca), Makaliah-Regina, Tyson- entrusted to the David C. Brown
Department as a sergeant in He was a fixture during the festi- cation and promotions, laying the Jalani, James-Kolby and Yasmin- Funeral Home. Interment was at
2003. He then briefly served as a val and loved patrolling the fair- foundation for our present bal- Denise; great-grandsons Ezekiel- Grandlawn Memorial Park in
deputy sheriff for the Wayne grounds on his golf cart, interact- anced, effective command staff James and Jayden-Isaiah; a sis- Detroit.
Evaluation of staffing needs at DPW will continue

”
The staffing level at the Sumpter require the hiring of another full-time
Township Department of Works will The report indicated that the parks employee in that department. He suggest-
remain at the current level…for now. ed looking at the entire project of mainte-
Department of Public Works Director and cemetery were taking two-thirds nance would be more helpful in making a
John Danci provided a preliminary of one employee's time. staffing decision.
report regarding staffing during the July “I think looking at the total project
11 meeting of the members of the board would bring some more light of what we
of trustees. Danci explained that using amount of time we've been spending try- “really worth hiring a fifth employee or need,” he said.
the data available, staff members were ing to maintain the parks.” Danci stressed having somebody dedicated full time to Danci agreed noting that while in the
able to compile a study of costs and the that the findings were estimates and that the parks.” Danci added that currently, summer months a single employee might
number of hours employees in the the totals were “kind of an averaging” of the four DPW employees were handling be spending hours cutting grass, the same
department have spent on various proj- staff time. The report indicated that the the workload including the routine main- number of hours might be spent in snow
ects. parks and cemetery were taking two- tenance. He said he hoped to complete a removal or plowing during the winter.
He explained that this was a prelimi- thirds of one employee's time. report with a study of the exact hours and “At the end of the season, we'll have
nary report and he was sharing it in an The estimate was based on the DPW cost of labor. more accurate data,” he told the board
effort to ensure the board members were maintaining the parks with mowing and Trustee Matt Oddy asked if putting the members, noting that he would bring the
kept informed as the study continued. minor projects, Danci said. “There are maintenance of the fairgrounds into the report, when complete, back to the board
“It has mostly been the parks and always things that come up,” Danci DPW would increase the workload and for consideration.
cemetery,” he told the board, “and the explained. He said the report was an
spreadsheet summarizes the cost and the effort to begin to build a plan to see if it is