Retired Harper Woods Fire Chief Joins Grosse Pointe Shores Public Safety

The former Harper Woods Fire Chief recently joined the public safety department of Grosse Pointe Shores. 

Sean Gunnery, 47, of Richmond, retired from Harper Woods Fire Department in March after eight years as the chief. He worked for the department for 21 years, slowly working his way up to chief, he said.

Several changes in the past few years changed Gunnery's job in Harper Woods significantly. Just about a year ago, the city laid off several firefighters in a department that was already dwindling. The city had wanted to switch to a public safety model rather than maintain separate police and fire departments. The union fought it and gained a court injunction to stop the transition. 

Gunnery completed the police academy in 2010 in preparation for the transition, he said, but then did not put the skills to use until now as a result of the injunction. 

The injunction is no longer in effect after the fire union reached an agreement with the city after Gunnery secured a grant to pay for the salaries of those firefighters laid off in April 2012 for two years. The staffing is still low but there are no longer one-man shifts at the Harper Woods Fire Department, Gunnery said.

Harper Woods is now again aiming to transition to a public safety model. 

Gunnery said he has had a good relationship with the officers in the Grosse Pointes and he was encouraged to apply after he determined his retirement date with Harper Woods. He applied and is now completing field training in Grosse Pointe Shores. 

In addition to putting his police skills to work more than two years after completing the police academy, Gunnery said he had to refresh his paramedic skills. As the chief of the fire department, he was out of the field and not practicing those skills as much, he said.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity," he said, of working for Grosse Pointe Shores. 

The pace is slower as compared to Harper Woods, he said, but there is still enough to do during a shift. 

Residents and fellow officers have been welcoming, he said.

"I'm impressed with the relationship between residents and officers," Gunnery said, describing it as "very warm."

Before working for Harper Woods, Gunnery worked as a firefighter in Detroit for three years. 

Beyond work, Gunnery has been married to his wife Paula for 15 years. They have two children, a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. 

For now, Gunnery is rotating between shifts so he is able to get to know the other officers in Grosse Pointe Shores. He will be finished with field training once he has learned the streets of the Shores, which means he'll be manning his own patrol car in the coming weeks.