Retiring Pinckney police chief passing baton to village's next top cop

Pinckney will have a new top cop in June.

Village officials recently selected Pinckney police officer Jeffrey Garrison to take over from Chief Jeff Newton, who announced he will retire after about 10 years with the village and more than three decades in law enforcement.

Garrison said he took the post in Pinckney, where he lives, to serve in his hometown following a long career in law enforcement.

Garrison served in Dearborn, a much larger community, for nearly three decades before taking a buyout from the city's police department in 2020. He had achieved the rank of lieutenant and ran the city's detective bureau.

"The police department in Pinckney is very community based," Garrison said. "We have a solid group of guys who work hard and take care of that community."

More than a desk job

Newton said being chief in Pinckney is much more than a desk job.

"Because of the nature and the size of the community, the chief in Pinckney is a working chief," who goes out on calls and patrols, he said.

"You reach a point in your career when it’s a younger man or woman's game. This isn't built to be an administrative position, so it's time for me to step down and I'm OK with that," he said.

Newton became chief in 2012 after to moving with his family to Howell. Prior to that he had served with the Fraser Department of Public Safety for more than 20 years where he achieved the rank of lieutenant and ran the department's patrol division. He started his career as a patrol officer in Detroit.

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In Fraser, Newton said, all public safety personnel are cross-trained as police, firefighters and EMTs, so Newton was involved in all aspects of public safety.

"When you have a fire, you go to the fire and take your police uniform off and put on your fire uniform," he said, adding that he served for a few years as a fire sergeant and also ran an ambulance.

When he was hired in Pinckney, the investigative side of police work was a new experience for him.

He said one of the department's achievements during his time in Pinckney was the addition of a dedicated investigator who covers the village and nearby Unadilla Township.

"Prior to my arrival, Pinckney didn't have a dedicated investigator," he said. "I think it's improved our capability here and improved our officers' overall approach to investigations [to have one]."

Newton said he championed the idea of the city joining with Putnam and Unadilla townships to create a joint police authority. Local officials discussed it several years ago, but it didn't come to fruition.

Unadilla Township has a police department while Putnam Township has a contract with the Livingston County Sheriff's Office for 40 hours of dedicated coverage.

"The thing that I wasn't able to do and I wish the village and the next chief would be able to do is I think there is room for an authority," he said.

He said he believes a joint police authority would be able to "better police people in the southwest corner" of the county.

Newton's last day will be June 16.

He said he plans to travel and has taken up woodworking as a hobby.

"I couldn’t have asked for a better place to finish my career than Pinckney," he said.

A new chapter

Garrison, 56, said working in a village offers new challenges, but others remain the same.

"I expect it to be much slower and not so go, go, go. That’s why I picked here, as opposed to Brighton or Howell. Those are bigger departments that have a lot going on with major highways," he said.

Garrison said the chief in a smaller municipality has more responsibilities beyond administrative duties..

"In Dearborn, the chief didn’t go out and do patrol. In Pinckney, the chief goes out and does patrol all the time, in full uniform, doing traffic control and runs," he said.

He said he also likes how involved Pinckney police are in the community.

"The police department is very community-based. Events like Spooktacular and Art in the Park, we're at all of those. The guys are well-liked in the community."

He said in many ways, he approaches policing the same as he would in a larger community.

"We still have the same function. We still have the same job, essentially," he said. "Police officers do what they do. They do proactive patrol. The invest crimes, take care of disturbances and do community policing."

He has been working as a part-time officer in the village for nearly a year.

He said while he took the buyout from Dearborn, he was called back to police work.

"My wife said, if you want to go back work, call, go, do what you do. We lived in Pinckney for a long time. I said, I wouldn't mind working for Pinckney even in a part-time position," he said.

Garrison said he's glad Newton will be around for several months to help with the transition.

"Chief Newton is a very forward-thinking chief executive, you could say. Unlike most people he’s planned for succession," he said. "I have several months to work directly with him and see what he does so he can show me all the things a small department does."

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at jtimar@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney police officer set to take over for retiring chief in June