ST. JOHNS, Mich. — Deputy Chief Andy Tobias is on just his second day with the St. Johns Police Department, and he let me join him for a ride along to talk about his journey to the city.
"So I'm originally from Grand Rapids," said Tobias. "And then, in 2002, I moved to the Lansing area where I worked for Meridian Township Police Department for 21 years."
And now, he'll work closely with Chief of Police David Kirk.
"And I am helping with a lot of different aspects of the police department," said Tobias.
Those areas include patrol, investigations, policies and best practices. Tobias says he wants to help focus on quality of life issues.
"Obviously, some communities struggle with addiction, communities do have criminal behavior and things like that." said Tobias. "And it's certainly going to be my goal to work with the stakeholders that the community does have and try and help solve some of those issues or at least quell some of those issues."
According to the department's annual report, there were 187 crimes committed in 2022, which was the most since 2017.
While the numbers are small, there was a reported spike in larceny cases and stolen vehicles. Tobias hopes his previous experience can help.
"The idea behind it is to bring in someone from the outside with some different experiences, different qualifications, as a means to continue the evolution of the St. Johns Police Department," said Tobias.
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