Following the recent retirement of Detective William DeWitt, Grand Valley Police Department has hired its first new detective in 10 years. Angela Morrison, who previously worked as an officer at Grand Valley State University, took over the position in November.

Before coming to GVPD, Morrison served as a detective at the Holland Police Department. She said that when the opportunity for a detective position opened up, she knew it was one she wanted to pursue.

“I really knew I liked that type of work, investigative work,” Morrison said. “I knew it was something I wanted to get back into.”

Although Morrison’s time as detective at GVPD only spans a few weeks, she said she has been working to get to know the GVSU community to better serve them.

“It’s been a lot of realizing Grand Valley’s unique… in that it has its own community,” Morrison said. “So (I’ve been) getting familiar with everybody and meeting new people. Looking forward, I’m excited to work in a community where everybody is so willing to work together and collaborate.”

Morrison touched on her outlook on the position as the first woman to hold it, saying that her experiences may open up a new avenue in investigating incidents on campus.

“I think that’s an opportunity just to interact in new ways with the student population and to bring my own perspective and my own experience to the table,” Morrison said. “I think that each individual brings their own unique gifts and talents, and I think depending on what they’ve been exposed to, what they engaged in, what opportunities have been presented to them, (how they work) can look totally different.”

Moving forward, Morrison said she has plans to alter some aspects of the department that may better serve the campus community. Her time as detective has mostly been analyzing the department’s previous work flow and determining which practices to keep or change, she said.

“A lot of it’s just taking time to sit back and looking to see what worked and… maybe there were some areas or opportunity for change, and look at those areas,” Morrison said. 

Morrison said that she is continuously looking to see how she can improve herself, whether through training, higher education or challenging herself in her day-to-day work, and that she is planning on taking that desire to grow into her work at the investigative department.

“I would love to see our investigative unit grow over time so that we can have more individuals become maybe more specialized or diversified,” Morrison said.