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.
City Manager Jim Ritsema says Thomas will take the top job November 22. Thomas has been with the department for more than two decades. During that time she's served as a regular public safety officer, a crime lab technician, and a detective, among other positions. She also headed the KDPS Office of Professional Standards.
She was honored by the Kalamazoo YWCA as a "Woman of Achievement" in 2015.
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