Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Milford has a new top cop.

Longtime Chief Tom Lindberg retired and was replaced by Lieutenant Scott Tarasiewicz, who has been with the department since 1999. He took over July 1st. Tarasiewicz started out with the department as a patrol officer and was sworn in on 9-9-99. He worked his way up over the years and was promoted to road sergeant, detective sergeant, lieutenant, and now chief.

Tarasiewicz says he really hadn’t heard of Milford before putting in his application but it was a beautiful place that he kind-of fell in love with and fortunately, he got the job.

Tarasiewicz says he wanted to be in law enforcement from a young age and had a desire to do something a bit more challenging and different on a day-to-day basis but also have a job that’s thought-provoking.

Having been with the department for 23 years, Tarasiewicz said he’s seen a lot of things he wanted to change or make better than just haven’t been done for one reason or another. Now, he said he realizes that he needs to step back, and accept that everything can’t happen overnight and things take time – adding there are also some things he thought needed to be worked on that really might not. All in all, Tarasiewicz said the transition is going smoother than anticipated and he’s pretty excited.

When it comes to challenges, he says Milford is no different than many others in facing staffing shortages and he’s basically absorbing the work of three people right now.

Tarasiewicz says staffing is a huge concern now but also for the future, noting before hundreds of people would apply for jobs – compared to maybe just a handful now – and they need to take a hard look at how they do recruitment and retention but thinks they do have a good model.

Tarasiewicz says the department is structured for 21 and they currently have 17 right now, with one individual in the Academy right now. He’s hoping to get to full staffing within the next six months.

The Department has traditionally been very active with community policing and that will continue under Tarasiewicz’s leadership. He told WHMI that has always been a focus and he’s been involved in most of the community initiatives, which are a big part of the department.

Looking ahead, Tarasiewicz says one goal is to get back to full staffing. He says they are also already integrated in the community but he wants to dive deeper and highlight officers as people - not just numbers on a badge – and give faces to names and faces to organizations.