Deputy Chief Rich Kummert began his law enforcement career with the Northfield Twp. Police Department after graduating from the police academy with an Associate Degree. In 1997, he accepted a position with the Westland Police Department and has held many important roles in the past 26 years.
As an officer, Deputy Chief Kummert worked road patrol and then undercover narcotics as part of the Special Investigation Unit. He was also a member of the department’s SWAT team and then promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2011. After a short amount of time as a patrol supervisor, he transferred to investigations, where he remained until his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant in 2014.
Deputy Chief Kummert returned to road patrol for 6 months and was then transferred to investigations, where he was Commander of the Detective Bureau and the Special Investigation’s Unit. He was the last Team Commander of the department’s SWAT team. Deputy Chief Kummert has attended many leadership-training courses to include being a graduate of the Eastern Michigan University’s School of Police Executive Staff and Command. He also served many roles in the union, including being a past president of the command union.
In 2021, Deputy Chief Kummert was promoted to Deputy Chief and is responsible for all Bureaus.