By: Dean Vaglia | West Bloomfield Beacon | Published April 10, 2025
KEEGO HARBOR — Keego Harbor City Council members voted unanimously to authorize the contract for Robert Barnes to be the city’s police chief and swore him into office at their meeting March 20.
Barnes’ contract is for three years with a negotiated salary and fringe benefit package that was agreed upon by Barnes and City Council.
“We are entering this contract to help show that Bobby’s had exemplary service to the city for (20) years. The citizens have been here to support him; we’re here to support him,” Keego Mayor John Fletcher said at the City Council meeting. “We want our officers to see promotion from within.”
Barnes comes to the position after serving six months as the interim police chief, following the retirement of the city’s previous chief, John Fitzgerald. Prior to that, he was the acting officer in charge.
According to him, he put his hat in the ring later in the process, after many of the prospective candidates had been interviewed.
“We were all worried. The morale was a little down because we weren’t sure who was going to walk through the door as chief,” Barnes said. “Keego is our own unique little place. We were worried we would have someone come in from a bigger department who may not have understood the dynamics of Keego Harbor or the department, or use this as a stepping stone to be chief at a bigger department somewhere down the road,” Barnes said.
After receiving the support of business owners, residents and his fellow officers, Barnes talked to Keego Harbor City Manager Tammy Neeb.
“Give me a shot at it for six months to see what direction I am bringing this department,” he said.
As interim police chief, Barnes said that he got his “ducks in a row.”
While that meant learning a lot of things very quickly, he didn’t want to put himself out there by attending chiefs’ meetings or posting on the department’s Facebook page. Instead, during that time, according to him, he stayed in the station when he was not working patrol.
He offered his perspective for deciding to take that approach.
“The city can decide they want to go in a different direction,” Barnes said. “It would just be more appropriate if I did all that once I got the permanent position.”
After the permanent position became official, Barnes had Stephen Worton, a retired sergeant with the Madison Heights Police Department, pin the chief’s pin on the newly-minted top cop of Keego Harbor.
Worton selected Barnes as a Madison Heights Police Department reserve officer in 2001, which started the chief’s law enforcement career. The reserve position was unpaid and on a volunteer basis.
Barnes was 33 at that time. Although he had worked as a graphic designer for 17 years, he “always had a hankering to be a cop.”
“I recall I wanted to become a police reservist so bad. I was so nervous,” Barnes said. “He (Worton) was a little intimidating, but he ended up hiring me.”
According to Worton, he does not see himself as an intimidating person. From his perspective, it was the sergeant stripes and the power he had that was intimidating to Barnes.
“If an applicant is not nervous, then that’s something I would worry about,” Worton said. “They’re coming in and asking for your permission or blessing to use one of your police cars, carry a gun, and have, somewhat, authority over people in your area. That’s an intimidating situation.”
According to Worton, lots of people have gone through the reserve officer’s program to move up the ranks in law enforcement.
After graduating from the police academy in 2003, Barnes secured a part-time position with Clarkston Village. He was hired by Keego Harbor in 2005 as a part-time officer and has been with the department ever since.
The man who Barnes affectionately refers to as “Sarge” shared some thoughts about the City Council’s decision.
“I think the city was very lucky and made a good decision, and they’ve got a wonderful chief,” Worton said. “He’s done a lot for their city.”
Keego Harbor’s crime is down compared to a few years ago, according to Barnes.
“Right now, I want to focus on prosecutions,” he said.
In order to help do that, he would like to implement Flock security cameras in the city, which, according to the chief, makes prosecutions of crimes easier.
Flock cameras are automated license plate-reading cameras designed to capture license plate data from vehicles that are in public view.
According to Barnes, West Bloomfield and Waterford use Flock cameras and have found it to be beneficial.
The chief cited an incident at El Camino restaurant last year, when a couple dined and dashed.
According to a report around the time of the incident, as the vehicle the couple was in started to drive away, one of the restaurant’s servers went outside to confront the pair and the vehicle “ran over her legs.” The male driver then proceeded to leave the scene.
Although police learned that the vehicle was a black Mercedes, there was only partial license plate information.
“If we had the Flock cameras at that time, we could have gotten that case resolved a lot sooner,” Barnes said. “Getting on board with the modern times is definitely a focus of mine.”
According to Barnes, Flock cameras would have been able to capture information from the entire license plate.
The driver was later identified and charged with failure to report an accident and defrauding an innkeeper.
He was sentenced to probation for 12 months and ordered to do seven days of community service. He was scheduled to be back in court for a review Oct. 28, according to court records.
Barnes would also like for Keego Harbor to be part of a co-responder program, which involves police departments partnering with specialists in the mental health field who render aid, referrals and other sources to individuals suffering from mental health issues, substance abuse disorders and other challenges. Such professionals can lend expertise and help resolve situations after a scene is secured, according to Barnes.
The program is a collaboration between local police and the Oakland Community Health Network.
The chief is hopeful that and other initiatives will soon be put on the City Council’s agenda.
In the meantime, his talents as a graphic artist can be seen via the decal on the side of Keego’s police vehicles, as well as on the city’s business cards, ID cards and letterhead.