WYOMING, Mich. - As friends and colleagues of James Carmody prepare to bid him farewell at a Wednesday retirement gathering, the outgoing director of Wyoming’s department of public safety says he feels blessed to have spent nearly 12 years of his career in western Michigan.
“I’ve been blessed doing the job I love to do and finishing my career with an exceptional organization,’’ Carmody said. “Some of the best people in this profession work here.’’
Carmody, 65, announced his retirement in early February. The Wyoming City Council last week named Capt. Kimberly Koster as his successor.
Carmody leaves behind a department consisting of 86 sworn police officers and 29 full-time firefighters.
A reception for Carmody is planned from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Kent District Library’s Wyoming branch, 3350 Michael Avenue SW. A special presentation is set for 3 p.m.
“Every day you come to work, you learn something about life, you learn something about yourself, you learn something about the people that make up your community,’’ Carmody said in a recent interview. “There may be an awful lot of boredom that’s interrupted by a few seconds of terror, but in the overall scheme of things, I don’t think there’s a more rewarding job in the world.’’
Carmody started his career as an officer in Port Huron in 1975. He was selected to head the Wyoming Police Department in 2006. As chief, he oversaw the transition to a public safety department and obtained accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies.
Carmody also experienced a few things in Wyoming that he did not see while on the other side of the state.
“I can honestly say in 40 years I’ve never been involved in a tornado until I came to the west side,’’ he laughed. “And I’ve got two of those under my belt. I’ve never been involved in floods and I’ve got two of those under my belt.’’
Carmody also said he was able to experience two train derailments, including one in late February near 28th Street SW and U.S. 131.
Among the many changes since the mid-1970s, Carmody said, is the level of training incoming officers are bringing with them.
“I did all my college education while I was a police officer,’’ he said. “Now, they are coming to the table with the education it took me 30 years to get.’’
Negative publicity linked to high-profile officer-involved shootings has cast law enforcement in a bad light and made it tougher to recruit new officers, Carmody said.
“Unfortunately, police have done some unfortunate things and they’ve done some bad things,’’ he said. “But for us to be looked at as a pariah in the community simply because we are police officers, I find personally offensive.
“These men and women go out every day and they go out and they risk their lives every day,’’ Carmody said. “I don’t take that lightly.’’
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