Gormley departs Executive Committee to lead Bloomfield Hills Dept. of Public Safety

— By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor

Jeff Gormley dedicated 25 years of his law enforcement career to the Police Officers Labor Council (POLC), so his promotion to Director of Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety was bittersweet.

“One of the hardest parts about taking the chief’s job was having to leave the POLC and Executive board because I can‘t do both at the same time since I was going to a non-union position,” Gormley said.

Gormley assumed his new role, overseeing 24 Officers and seven Dispatchers, in February 2023 after the prior Director retired.

Gormley began his career as a City of Mt. Pleasant Police Officer in July 1997 after graduating Lake Superior State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and another Bachelor’s in Fire Science. His legacy with the POLC began in September 1998, when he was hired as a Bloomfield Hills Public Safety Officer, stepping into the role of Local Union Lead Negotiator the same year he was hired. Gormley served in that position until he was promoted to Sergeant. He became Local Union President and Lead Negotiator for Bloomfield Hills Command Unit. He rose through the ranks to Lieutenant and Captain before assuming the department’s top position as Director of Public Safety.

In 2014, Gormley expanded his passion for labor relations as a POLC/ GELC Executive Committee member, serving nine years helping the Union grow stronger.

“Some of the things I’m most proud about are moving the POLC toward fiscal responsibility and putting us in a much better position today than when we started as an organization,” he said.

As an Executive Committee member, Gormley helped choose not one, but two new POLC/GELC Directors — Director Rob Figurski and Deputy Director and Labor Representative Jim Stachowski, who will take over the Director’s role July 1, 2023.

“We have progressed and worked hard to get ourselves in a situation where we’re much more viable in the future,” Gormley said. “I also liked sitting on the Union’s Grievance Board for five years. It was always enjoyable and very impactful helping officers across the state.”

As Gormley looks ahead at the future of the Union, he sees the key issues centering on staffing departments and defending officers’ duty to serve and protect.

“The hiring, retention and recruitment of good law enforcement is a major issue. The shortage of law enforcement throughout the state is a huge thing,” he said. “I think that good, quality, substantial law enforcement reform is okay, but the Unions have to make sure that the quality and the importance of the things being changed serve law enforcement’s core principals and don’t interfere with the job that needs to be done.”

Gormley’s parting wisdom for newly appointed Executive Committee member Adam Byrd is to not feel pressured to conform. “He should vote his true belief and heart and not the easy vote,” Gormley said. “Committee members should have their own opinions and do what they believe is right.” d