Year of change and involvement for police

By Dana Casadei

A year of change and community involvement were large focuses of the Bloomfield Township Police Department's Annual Report at the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, May 8.

Chief of Police James Gallagher began the presentation by discussing the transition of his role as chief of police, which began in July 2022, after the retirement of former chief Phil Langmeyer, who served the township for over 30 years.

Chief Langmeyer wasn’t the only retiree for the department in 2022; there were also three lieutenants, two detectives, one dispatcher, and a Bloomfield Village officer who retired, who combined had over 200 years of police service.

The department did go on to hire five additional officers, two dispatchers and an animal welfare officer in this last year.

Multiple awards were given throughout the evening, highlighting the work the department has done, including Officer of the Year. Officer Ed Ryan, who has been with the department since the fall of 2007, received this year’s award.

This past year also marked the police department’s first full year with their mental health Co-Responder program and clinician Hillary Nusbaum, who was awarded the department’s Civilian of the Year award. Over 600 cases were referred to Nusbaum from all three agencies –Bloomfield Township, Birmingham and Auburn Hills – with 239 referrals directly from Bloomfield Township.

The CoRE program is now also being implemented by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Troy Police Department, and there are plans to expand the central CoRE team, adding the city of Rochester Police Department, and hiring a second clinician to handle the caseload, all of which is being made possible after the Bloomfield Township Police Department was awarded a $260,000 federal grant.

Nick Soley, community relations officer for the Bloomfield Township Police Department, presented the rest of the annual report, which had a notable format change from years prior, closer to a magazine layout than just 70 pages of facts and figures. This change was not only mentioned and appreciated by Gallagher, but trustees as well.

Getting into the facts and figures of the report highlighted that last year the department handled 25,883 calls for service (CFS), about 1,000 calls down from 2021. Those calls ranged from a

Cameron Mitchell to reopen Big Rock

By Lisa Brody

The Big Rock in Birmingham on the site of a former railroad station will rise again, as Cameron Mitchell Restaurants out of Columbus, Ohio, reopens the site as Big Rock Italian Chop House.

Big Rock Chophouse had been located at 245 S. Eton Street in the historic Birmingham Train Station. Prior to opening as Big Rock Chophouse, the train station was restored in 1984 and converted into a signature restaurant called Norman’s Eton Street Station by restaurateurs Norman and Bonnie LePage, who began their long tenure in hospitality when they quit their jobs in 1969 and opened a doughnut shop. They announced the closure of Big Rock Chophouse in September, 2021, with the iconic restaurant closing at the end of 2021.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants are familiar to those in the Birmingham area, as it owns and operates Ocean Prime in Troy, and prior to selling them to Ruth's Chris Steak House in 2008, created and opened Cameron's Steakhouse and Mitchell's Fish Market, both on Willits in Birmingham.

According to its website, the restaurant group began at Cameron Mitchell's mother's dining room table, where Cameron said he mapped out his career goals.

“In 1993, Cameron signed a lease for a small piece of storefront property, tucked in the northwest corner of Columbus. The space would be transformed into his first restaurant, 'Cameron’s.' This contemporary American bistro wowed Columbus diners with its diverse flavors selected from across the American culinary landscape as well as its extraordinary attention to service. Cameron’s was a notable success, especially when considering Columbus’ highly competitive restaurant business climate… While remaining independent and privately held, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants has grown to 43 restaurants across the country from Beverly Hills to New York City, and 18 different concepts in 14 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to Cameron’s, the concepts are: Cap City Fine Diner & Bar, The Guild House, Hudson 29 Kitchen + Drink, Martini Modern Italian, Marcella’s, Ocean Prime, Molly Woo’s Asian Bistro, The Pearl Restaurant, Tavern & Oyster Room, The Barn at Rocky Fork Creek, The Avenue Steak Tavern, Del Mar SoCal Kitchen, Lincoln Social Rooftop, El Segundo Mexican Kitchen, Prime Social Rooftop, Del Mar Naples, Valentina’s (opening 2023) and Cento (opening 2023).” phone call into dispatch requesting police assistance to a police officer affecting a traffic stop. A CFS is also created when an alarm company calls to alert an alarm has been tripped.

At the Birmingham Historic Design Committee on April 19, a design review application from the Cameron Mitchell Restaurant group was reviewed for minor cosmetic changes to the building along with some modifications to outdoor dining. Among the changes requested were to build a pergola on the north side of the outdoor dining area, where the valet stand stood, to remove it and build additional outdoor dining with a pergola, outdoor fireplace and hedge screening.

A special land use permit for Big Rock Italian Chop House will be reviewed by the city's planning board.

Soley emphasized how much of what the department does is serviceorientated policing, such as vacation house checks, vehicle lockouts, and school security checks.

As far as crime in the township goes, Part A Crimes – considered the most serious types of crimes, like robbery, assaults, and high-value larcenies –went up slightly from the year prior, and were primarily fraud/ID thefts and robberies, especially stolen vehicles. Part B and C crimes did go down in Bloomfield Township. Officer Soley did mention he wrote more press releases for high crimes than he ever had before in 2022.

Out of all of those calls for service, only 12 resulted in use of force incidents – less than one percent of their total calls, and down from last year. In total, 947 of those calls for service resulted in arrest, and 6,658 calls included traffic stops.

Soley also discussed the police department’s community involvement, emphasizing how much fun this part is, not only for residents but for officers as well.

Throughout 2022, the police department took part in multiple events across the township, including handing out candy at Halloween, Skate With a Cop night, and a firsttime babysitting class, which was so popular the class was full and there are plans for another.

Birmingham Museum launches podcast

Think you know everything about Birmingham, Michigan? You might be surprised, especially if you tune into “Birmingham Uncovered,” the new podcast just launched by the Birmingham Museum, available via app, on the city’s website and the museum’s YouTube channel.

Each podcast, produced twice per month by museum specialist Caitlin Donnelly, will focus on the life of a particular individual from Birmingham’s history, and explore their connection to the larger local or national story.

"It's exciting to be able to share Birmingham's history in this new way,” said Donnelly. “By exploring big nationwide stories like the Underground Railroad network, the women's suffrage movement, or attitudes toward mental illness in the 1820s through the lives of the people in Birmingham. It makes the history personal.”

The equipment for the podcast was made possible by a Public, Educational, and Governmental Services (PEG) grant from the Birmingham Area Cable Board. To delve deeper into Birmingham’s history, visit bhamgov.org/ birminghamuncovered to listen to the podcasts, view a transcript of each podcast, and access historical documents for each episode. These include court records, old newspaper clippings, journal entries, and more. The free podcasts are also available via app and on the Birmingham Museum’s YouTube channel.

Pickleball courts coming to Crestview

Pickleball enthusiasts will have a new place to enjoy their game as six brand new pickleball courts are being installed at Birmingham's Crestview Park.

City contractors began work on the six pickleball courts the week of May 8, and the city anticipates the courts will be ready for play by late May or early June.

Pickleball is America's fastest growing sport. It is a paddle sport which combines elements of tennis, badminton & ping-pong using an oversized paddle. It can be played by two or four players, where they hit a perforated hollow plastic ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid-faced paddles.