Macomb County sergeant credited with sharp rise in midnight “self‑initiated” activity, trustees hear

Lieutenant Kevin Gillespie and Sergeant Ryan Pieschuk of the Macomb County Sheriff's Office told the Macomb Township Board of Trustees on Feb. 26 that the department has seen a large increase in documented midnight, self‑initiated activity since adding a sergeant to the overnight command structure.

"We were somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 self initiated calls for the month of January 2024. Now we're up at 885," Sergeant Ryan Pieschuk said during the board meeting, adding that better documentation and leadership have driven the higher count.

The increase matters because, Pieschuk said, self‑initiated activity — officers generating checks and patrols on their own, such as subdivision drives, business checks and garage/door inspections — both deters crime and helps the department locate incidents more quickly. "Self initiated calls for us are really important," he said. "It's how we find a lot of work on midnights."

Pieschuk described both departmentwide and personal metrics. He credited the command change with broader documentation gains across the midnight shift and said he personally recorded 68 self‑initiated incidents in January and 44 in February to date, including 11 traffic stops in February.

"With just a little bit of direction, making sure the guys and gals are getting credit for the work that they're doing, and documenting it appropriately, that's really shown... that we're out there," he said.

Supervisor Vivian, who requested the presentation, told the board she had asked for the briefing after discussing staffing changes and the sheriff's contract. "I thought it was important to bring it to the board, especially given the nature of our discussion when we made the changes to the Sheriff's contract," she said, thanking the officers for their work.

Trustees and other board members thanked the presenters and pointed to the benefit of having a command officer on the overnight shift. There was no related motion or formal board action; the presentation was for information and the board accepted the update.

The information reported to the board covered operational metrics and staffing choices within the Macomb County Sheriff's Office; the township did not adopt new policy or change its contract at the meeting.

Ending: Trustees expressed appreciation for the Sheriff's Office's service and for the briefing; no follow‑up vote or assignment was made at the Feb. 26 meeting.