FRASER, Mich. (WXYZ) — Police and the community describe Fraser as a family feel.
7 Action News spoke with Fraser Department of Public Safety Director Samantha Kretzschmar. She's the city's first female to serve in that position.
“It feels great because I want to be here and I want to do good things and help this department and this community move forward,” Kretzschmar said. “But it’s not about that. It’s about just doing a good job and having the support of the community and the officers. That’s more important.”
All 30 officers in the department are cross trained as police officers and firefighters.
Most are also emergency medical technicians; six are paramedics. The department run its own ambulance and charity.
“I think it’s such an efficient way to serve a community while saving some of the taxpayer money because you get three in one with us,” Kretzschmar said. “If you call the police, you get us. You call fire, you get us. You can an ambulance, you get us.
Kretzschmar says the department leads many community inactivates in Fraser.
The department has also started its body camera program, the director said.
“I know most of the communities around have already had that, but we’re trying to get in with the times and transparency and accountability and all the things that a community expects to see from their police department,” Kretzschmar said.
Fraser has several paid volunteer firefighters, but one will never be forgotten. Every year, there is a memorial for David Sutton, who died in the line of duty on March 4, 2000.
