Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jarrod Hart
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS – Police Chief Jerrod Hart, who has been in the position since February 2022, is reportedly on leave, with Kevin Swope, director of Police Operations, serving as interim chief.
Hart allegedly has been posting for a police chief position online, with the notation that he is available to start immediately.
A City Council member said, Hart asked Mayor Bill Bazzi to relieve him of his duties. They also said that the city council did not ask to have Hart removed.
Hart reportedly has a generous severance package in his contract with the city.
Hart previously was the police chief for the city of Saline, and was the only Dearborn Heights police chief not to come up through the department’s ranks.
Bazzi hired and appointed Hart in February 2022, after firing Police Chief Mark Meyers, treating him as an at-will employee and disregarding the Act 78 Commission and procedures within the department.
Meyers became police chief in May 2020 after rising through the ranks in the Police Department.