Quincy hires deputy to lead police department
QUINCY — The Quincy village board Tuesday night voted to hire Quincy native Dalton Turmell as its new police chief.
According to village manager Brittany Butler, Turmell, 27, stood out among three candidates interviewed by a six-member committee. "He's involved in Quincy, which is something that we liked. He seems really positive (about becoming police chief)," she said.
Turmell is currently a Branch County Sheriff's deputy. His first day as Quincy's chief will be July 3.
Former chief Mike Kolassa resigned on March 19 after the Department of Homeland Security found malware downloaded to his patrol car computer.
The only remaining officer left on April 25 to join the University of Michigan Police Department.
After a public hearing on April 16 with strong community input, the village council decided to rebuild rather than eliminate the village police department.
Prior story Quincy village to continue police services
Turmell became a Branch County corrections officer in August 2016. He completed the police academy and joined the road patrol in December 2020.
Turmell went to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department in early 2022 but returned to Branch County in July 2022 when the county eliminated its two-tier pay system that raised younger deputy pay.
Quincy will pay Turmell $70,000 a year to head the new department.
The village council voted in April to make the new department include a chief with two full-time and one part-time officer.
Quincy regularly lost officers to higher-paying departments. The $22 an-hour starting pay was one problem.
Butler proposed reducing one officer to a half-time officer to allow Quincy to start officers at $24 an hour.
The Branch County Sheriff starts deputies at $24.09 an hour, Coldwater at $26.41, and Union City raised its starting police pay to $23 an hour this April.
Butler said Turmell has good ideas for the department and finding new hires. First the village will send him to train in police administration to learn the duties of a police chief.
Butler said Turmell is MCOLES certified.
Butler said Alan Fouty, the Branch Area Career Center Criminal Justice instructor and former state trooper, conducted the 25-page required Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards report for all police hires.
The village manager said Turmell attended both Quincy Schools and Pansophia Academy charter school in Coldwater, graduating from Quincy.
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Butler said the village ordered uniforms for Turmell, and staff repainted the public safety department in the village offices.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Branch County deputy Turmell hired as Quincy Village police chief
