Mayor Pacheco Appointed to Chelsea's Public Safety Planning Group

By Doug Marrin

The Chelsea City Council appointed Mayor Jane Pacheco as the council representative on the newly formed Community Public Safety Strategic Planning Group (SPC).

The SPG was created July 5, 2022, as recommended by the Bobcat Consulting Group police audit conducted a year ago to analyze Chelsea police policies and procedures.

The purpose of the SPG is to create a strategic plan with the Chelsea Police Department (CPD) to ensure that the mission and vision of the police are in line with the city’s. The group will work to bridge the gap between the CPD and the community that opened more than two years ago over police response to a series of BLM protests in the city.

The seven-member SPG will be co-chaired by the Police Chief and other assigned member. Members will include the Chelsea Police Chief, one city council member, and five community members. City staff is expected to attend the meetings.

The group’s work will first assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the police department, getting input from a broad range of community stakeholders and neighboring townships. From this process, the current and future needs for the CPD will be identified and sequential goal setting implemented, including incorporation into the annual budget planning.

The estimated time for the SPD to complete its work is one year from the hiring of Chelsea’s new Police Chief. Public interviews of candidates are set to begin on September 12.