Retired Det. Sgt. Chad Spence held a press conference in front of the St. Joseph County Courthouse Monday to officially announce his candidacy for St. Joseph County Sheriff in 2024, and reveal David Northrop as his running mate and undersheriff. Northrop and Spence have 53 years of combined law enforcement experience in various leadership roles.
Chad Spence
St. Joseph County Commissioner and former undersheriff Dennis Allen announced his candidacy for sheriff Thursday, joining a crowded field that could grow larger before November 2024.
Spence said he believes he will bring an important virtue if elected as sheriff: accountability. While serving with MISSION Spence investigated other sheriff agencies in their internal investigations for several years — a job he says is necessary, though many don’t want to do it.
“Those investigations are important for our profession,” he said. “If there are things like misconduct they need to be dealt with, and they need to be held accountable so we can keep our professions the way they should be.”
Students from St. Joseph County’s Intermediate School District Career Technical Education’s (CTE) Public Safety program will be recognized at the Michigan State Capitol this week as part of the CTE Showcase. The students will visit Lansing on Thursday to explain what the public safety program is, what they’re doing in and outside of the classroom, and what they hope to accomplish.
City Manager Joe Bippus announced Friday that Ronald “Scott” Boling will be the next Three Rivers Police Chief, succeeding longtime Police Chief Tom Bringman who retired in November. Boling most recently served as police chief of the Schoolcraft Police Department where Bippus has previously been employed as a patrol officer in addition to his duties as city manager. It is unclear whether Bippus still serves in any capacity with the Schoolcraft PD.
After 14 1/2 years as Three Rivers’ chief of police and 47 1/2 years with the Three Rivers Police Department, Tom Bringman is calling it a career.