The Leaders That William Hegarty Made
PART I
Once again there is the "changing of the guard" within the Grand Rapids Police Department. For years one of the stabilizing factors in the Grand Rapids Police Department was that there was very little change over in the leadership. However, over the last 20 years there have been three Chiefs, and now the city is preparing to search for a fourth.
During my years as a police officer in Grand Rapids I was taught an important lesson by then Chief William Hegarty. He believed that no organization can grow and remain stable without the constant leadership at the top of the organization.
Whereas change is always good in any organization, there are times that change must be constant to meet the goals and objectives of the system. In order for systems to work it is critical that process, policy and procedures be put in place and the strategic plan for that organization is developed and executed.
If you look around the State of Michigan Law Enforcement Community over the last 35 years, and examine some of the leaders who have led law enforcement agencies not only here in West Michigan, but also West Michigan law enforcement leaders who rose to the top of the ranks at departments around the state and even the country, you will notice one important connection.
If change happens in organizations on a regular basis, in order to maintain a clear mission and reach the vision and goals of the organization, it may be critical to look within the ranks in order to stay the course of the organization. When leadership changes and the strategic plan for that organization has not been reached, you risk a new leader or a leader who is not connected or familiar with the current plan stepping in and disrupting the organization's long term goals and objectives.
This article is by no means a slight or meant to be disrespectful to the current and past leaders of the Grand Rapids Police Department. It is meant to acknowledge my mentor, advisor, previous chief, and friend, William "Bill" Hegarty, retired police Chief for the City of Grand Rapids, for his hard work and dedication to the department for many years. What he brought to the department has impacted the department in many ways and will continue to impact the department for many more years.
Recently, when I attended the funeral of one of my friends, Pam Carrier, Retired Police Captain for the City of Grand Rapids Police Department. I looked around the church and understood the impact that Chief Hegarty had on this community and more importantly the police department. I thought about the professionalism, accountability, respect, integrity, excellence and gift for service of those he had touched.
I also watched as over twenty law enforcement leaders entered the church. All had worked under the leadership of Chief William Hegarty. A few moments later, I saw the man and legend himself walk into the church. Dressed sharp as ever with his back suit, pressed white shirt, and polished slip on black loafer shoes — his trademark — and always the gentleman with the serious face. Younger officers attending the services did not realize that he was the man that helped shape the image of the Grand Rapids Police Department.
Look around at any shift briefing and you will see a new generation of law enforcement leaders waiting to be developed.
They may not look like it just yet, but they are the officers who will be entrusted with the honor and responsibility of leadership in our profession. I am positive Chief Hegarty viewed each of us in the same manner when we all entered our first rollcall within the Grand Rapids Police Department.
As young officers sit in their seats, taking notes on their upcoming tour, they have no idea of the future that awaits them. Nor do they recognize the efforts that were made by their current and past leaders to prepare them for future leadership service.
One of the primary responsibilities of a leader in a police organization is the development of future leaders. While many agencies have succession plans in place, usually those plans involve a pre-identified set of personnel that the organization believes are most likely to be successful at the next level. These officers are our organizational "stars" and have shown that they are now ready for the responsibilities of a leadership position (Reynolds 2014).
Where most succession plans fail is in their long - term view of leadership development and the role that management can play to develop leaders far in advance of the succession process. Every person within our ranks is a potential star waiting to be formed, and it is never too early to start developing prospective leaders for our organizations (Reynolds 2014).
One of the things that Chief William Hegarty was able to do was identify early the officers who could make a difference in the department and began working to give them the skills and necessary training necessary to move the department into the direction it needed to go.
Often, some of those officers did not even recognize within themselves that they had the potential to be a great leader within an organization.
I recalled a time when Chief Hegarty made fellow officer Ralph Mason and me attend a budget planning training. I had no idea how important this training would be in my career twenty years later.
Chief Hegarty was able to identify and prepare the future generation of the Grand Rapids Police Department by hiring, promoting and developing police leaders that would embrace the future and the difficult challenges facing law enforcement. In doing that he was able to hire, train, promote and push forward many police leaders from the Grand Rapids Police Department to other organizations and departments.
The impact that these officers are having is nothing more than amazing and it shows us that Chief Hegarty's work should not go unnoticed.
Below are a list of officers who worked under the command of Chief William Hegarty and the current or past departments or organizations that were positively impacted after receiving their training under Hegarty's leadership. These are individuals that made the rank of Director, Captain, and Deputy Chief of Staff. Although there are many more who were promoted I only chose to highlight only a few.
1. Larry D. Johnson: Chief of Staff, Assistant Superintendent and Executive Director of Public Safety for the Grand Rapids Public Schools.
2. Kevin Belk: (Retired) Chief of Police, current Vice-President of Operations DK Security, Grand Rapids.
3. Pamela Carrier: (deceased): Retired Captain, Grand Rapids Police Department, First woman to be promoted to this rank in the city's history.
4. Dan Mills: Deputy Chief of Police Portage Michigan.
5. Douglas Brinkley: Chief of Police, Sugarland Texas, current the Assistant City Manager for Sugarland Texas.
6. Roger Ungrey: (Retired) Chief of Police Newaygo Michigan.
7. Eric Payne: Currently Deputy Chief of Police, Grand Rapids Michigan.
8. Chief James Ferris: (Retired) Deputy Chief, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
9. Kurt Vanderkooi: Captain, Grand Rapids Police.
10. Daniel Savage: (Retired) Police Captain Grand Rapids Police; Intern Chief of Police, Grand Rapids, Currently a Consultant with Secured Education Consultants.
11. Pete McWaters: Captain, Grand Rapids Police.
12. David Kiddle: Deputy Chief of Police, Grand Rapids Police, Michigan.
13. Vince Reilly: Captain, Grand Rapids Police, Michigan.
14. Matthew Ostopowicz: Captain, Grand Rapids Police, Michigan.
15. Dan Ostopowicz: (Retired) Deputy Chief, Grand Rapids Police, Michigan.
16. Mark Herald: Chief of Police, East Grand Rapids Police, Michigan.
17. Rex Marks: Former Police Chief, California.
18. Carol Price: Director of Police Training, Utah.
19. Rebecca Whitman: Chief of Police, Grand Rapids Community College.
20. William Corner: Director of Public Safety, Calvin College.
21. Jeffery Hertel: Director of Public Safety, Hope College.
22. Mark Garsney: Former Director of Public Safety for the Capital Region Airport Authority, Lansing Michigan.
23. Robert Goethal: Captain (retired) Grand Rapids Police, Director of Security, Rockford Public Schools (retired).
24. Chris Young: Past Chief, Florida, Current PHD and instructor Ferris State University.
25. Richard Mattice: Chief of Police (retired) Kentwood, Michigan.
26. Joe Wiltrakes: Director of Executive Security (retired) Steelcase Corporation.
27. Vernon Snyder: Captain (Retired); Chief of Police, Grandville Michigan (retired).
As stated the list may be longer and I sincerely apologize to those individuals I may have missed. But as you can see, there were some outstanding leaders within the Grand Rapids Police Department that were either hired or developed under William Hegarty's leadership.
These leaders have made significant contributions in not only West Michigan, but across the entire nation.
To Continue Next Week.
Larry is still active in the Law Enforcement on a national level, and is serving as the Past Chairman of the Board; Senior Advisor and Vice President of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement. He is an author, police trainer and advisor for young police officers as well as a mentor for several police chiefs around the country. He still resides in the Grand Rapids area with his Wife of 35 years Christina and his son. He is also the father of two daughters, both married to Dallas Texas Police Officers.Tagged in:
