Kalamazoo Public Safety

Kalamazoo will soon have a new Public Safety chief. City officials said Wednesday night that current Chief Karianne Thomas is retiring at the end of the month.

Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas says the Proud Boys wanted to create a stir when they came to Kalamazoo last month, and “they did it.” 

The disruptive visit by the Proud Boys this weekend was the focus of Tuesday night’s Kalamazoo City Commission meeting, with plenty of blame to go around, and promises that the mistakes made would not be repeated. 

A Kalamazoo Public Safety officer was hurt and a suspect is dead after gunfire at a downtown business Tuesday afternoon, March 12.

Kalamazoo will get its first female public safety chief later this month.

City officials say current Chief Jeff Hadley is leaving to become head of the Chatham County Police Department in Georgia. He'll be replaced by Karianne Thomas, who's now deputy chief of Kalamazoo's Public Safety Department.