By Matt Brown, Multimedia Director.
Compared to his last gig, Lieutenant Robert Battinkoff, is a fish out of water. Running a police force within Delta College is a “night/day difference from Flint township,”says Battinkoff. “A week’s worth of crime in Flint township is more than a year here.”
This is not to say the new Director of Public Safety isn’t learning to swim quickly. “I’ve been in more meetings here than my whole life, which is good,” said Battinkoff,“This is an opportunity to impact a lot of people. In 10 years here, there will be four or five different sets of 10,000 people.”
Battinkoff, who served 30 years in Flint Township Police Department, has been named Director of Public Safety, replacing the now retired Steven Witzke.
Having dealt with the tactical as well as the administrative aspects of law enforcement, Battinkoff brings a new mindset with him. “The big thing is getting positive interaction with students,” he says. “Due to the nature of urban policing, you are dealing with some type of catastrophe and then you are gone.”
Other plans include redoing the emergency procedures manual for the College, incorporating some tabletop exercises, which are activities in which key personnel are gathered to discuss various simulated emergency situations, and creating an open forum for students to discuss issues with campus police once a month.
Touching on the Criminal Justice program available at Delta, Battinkoff likes, “that we have a police academy here, and that we do a lot of the inservice training for the surrounding counties. It is a way to be impactful.”
Discussing his role in the academy, he doesn’t know if he wants to incorporate new things: “I want to be here as a resource. I think they do a great job of covering the issues already.”
Battinkoff knew since elementary school he wanted to be a police officer, though he is the first officer in his family. “[It was] a combination of things,” he says, “part of it was wanting to be the good guy. Part of it was wanting to help people.”
Earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Flint and an associate’s degree from Lansing Community College, Battinkoff understands the collegiate atmosphere.
“That’s the biggest concern in a place like this, is that you become complacent. There is little of that real stuff going on, so it is important to use that time to be prepared.”
