Jeff Murphy has spent some time on the East Lansing Police Force.
29 years to be exact.
As of Tuesday, he has officially held every rank. He's the new police chief.
"East Lansing is different from some communities, I'm glad to be chief here," Murphy said. "I think I have an understanding of how to work with students, a good understanding of the many different aspects of what's going on."
He says his main focus will be staying involved with the community, and making sure ELPD is being the police force the community wants and needs.
"We really want to hear from the community, we want to know what they expect of us, if it's different than what we're doing, and the only way we'll know that is if we talk to them," he said.
Murphy also wants to work more with other local police departments. Lansing, Meridian Township, MIchigan State Police and the Ingham County Sheriff's Department regularly work with ELPD. They have joint task forces for accident investigations, tactical work and more.
"We want to keep looking at ways that we can serve the public the way that they expect us to but do it cheaper, and use the resources that we have prudently."
Murphy says he welcomes all feedback from the community, good and bad. He says people can talk to any East Lansing officer about it, or email or call him directly. His number is (517) 319-6846 and his email address is jmurphy@cityofeastlansing.com.
