Police Chief Richard Patterson

Retiring chief remembers
first day on the force

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — Police Chief Richard Patterson is apprehensive about leaving his post in Birmingham at the end of next month.

Not because he’s worried about how the department will be handled after he retires, but because the city has been a part of his life for so long.

Patterson, 63, has been with the city just as long he has been married to his wife, Gail — 43 years.

He chose to take part in what he called the city’s “drop plan,” which he said gives the city time to plan for the vacancy, but also requires that the employee to leave at the end of five years from the date they sign the agreement.

“As I approach the date, a month and half from now, I’m still feeling apprehensive about leaving, but the agreement was that I would leave,” he said. “This is an excellent place to work in this profession. There was enough activity to keep it interesting, yet one is not overwhelmed with crime and poor working conditions. It’s an excellent community. They support the Police Department, and I felt that from the day I was hired until this day.”

Reflecting on his tenure, Patterson shared the memory of his first day as a Birmingham police officer — which was also his most memorable experience.

Anxious to start his new job and meet all of his co-workers for the first time, Patterson reported for his first day of duty in June of 1967 wearing a sport coat and tie because no uniforms were available at that time. He was handed a police revolver, which he had yet to receive training for, and was told to tuck it into the waistband his pants while he rode along with a fellow police officer to get familiar with the city.

“I wasn’t too comfortable not having shot that weapon before and not knowing what to expect in this Police Department, but I did what I was instructed to do,” he said.

Just a few minutes after getting into the police car, there was a report of a bank robbery at the Detroit Bank and Trust branch in the Wabeek Building on the northeast corner of Maple and Bates.

“My heart immediately started pounding. I was just 21 years old and I had never been to a bank robbery before. I hadn’t even been through the police academy yet,” Patterson said.

As they pulled up to the building, sirens blaring, the officer told Patterson to “take the front of the bank” while he went around to the back of the building. Not knowing what that meant, or what to do, Patterson put his hand on his gun hidden underneath his sports coat and peered in through the window of the bank. He watched nervously from outside, as officer after officer ran past him into the building without acknowledgement or instructions.

“The officer had never told me, at that time, that there had never been a bank robbery in Birmingham up to that date. They had had many, many false alarms — almost daily, but I didn’t know that,” he said.

Thankfully, the incident turned out to be just another false alarm, but it was a day Patterson will never forget.

“It did dawn on me that these guys didn’t know me. They had never met me. … Thank goodness I didn’t pull out my gun in front of these other officers, they might have thought I was the bank robber,” he said.

From there, Patterson quickly moved up the ranks, holding every sworn position in the department.

He was appointed the chief of police in 2000.

“This department has a very fine reputation in the police circles throughout the area and the state, and the staff is committed to excellence. … That work ethic was passed on to me by my predecessors, and I hope that I have had the same effect on my staff,” he said.

Current Deputy Chief Don Studt, 56, who has served with the Birmingham Police Department for 35 years, will take over as chief Feb. 28.

Patterson said Studt is well prepared to take the reins, but offered him a small piece of advice.

“Stay happy and always have a good sense of humor, even in the down times,” he said.

Studt said Patterson has always been supportive and forward thinking as far as the use of new technologies within the department.

“He instituted a building security system and citywide video security system with wireless feeds, which was one of the first in the country. He’s also been very supportive of all of the members of the department, as well as the businesses and the residents,” Studt said.

Patterson currently lives in Rochester Hills with his wife — with whom he has three grown children— and is actively seeking employment.

“I’m not one to sit still or retire early. I am seeking employment now. I plan on either changing careers and going in another direction or staying with the same career,” he said.