The City of Ferndale is located in southeastern Oakland County and is about four square miles in size, with a population of about 21,000 residents. Ferndale borders the City of Detroit, the same border dividing Oakland and Wayne counties.
The Ferndale Police Department is headed by Chief Timothy Collins, who has been with the department since 1977, and is comprised of 38 sworn men and women who patrol the community.
The department prides itself as being a reason why people choose to live and conduct business in Ferndale. A great majority of the Ferndale Police officers choose to live within Ferndale themselves and are active members of the community.
Ferndale's tactic of police work is one of omnipresence -- that is a feeling that the police are everywhere. We maintain a response time average of three minutes to all calls for service. This is due in part to the size of our community and our commitment to service and patrol.
We follow the community policing model to improve quality of life issues. This has been accomplished by forming a partnership with the community.
The mission of the Ferndale Police Department is to:
"Protect the rights of all persons ... to be free from criminal attack, to be secure in their possessions, and to live in peace."
Members of the Ferndale Police Department are service oriented. For example we conduct:
- House checks
- Neighborhood Watch
- Ferndale Police Chaplain Program
- Senior visits
- Street light outage surveys
- Attend block parties
- Local school attendance
As Ferndale has recently become a center for night life, the department assigns Police Mountain Bike Officers to patrol the Central Business District during peak activity hours. These officers, along with the rest of the patrol force, strive to make our community a crime free and friendly place to visit.
The Ferndale Police Department has existed since April 29, 1918. The original force consisted of one Marshal. In 1919, the department grew by three deputies, as the Marshal needed additional manpower for the period of the Michigan Sate Fair (the Michigan State Fairgrounds are located just south of Ferndale).