City Governments

In each of the 5 B communities, a commitment to volunteerism leads to a high level of public participation in government. While each of the five communities are governed distinctly, citizen involvement, combined with the coordinated efforts of public officials and community leaders, ensures a high quality of life throughout the area.

Residents are elected or appointed to serve on various commissions, councils and boards, including those governing the libraries, parks and recreation facilities, public school systems, community cable television services, and the communities themselves. On the other hand, public officials also are actively involved in the life of the community. Many are members of civic and service clubs and volunteer their time to support the efforts of these and other community groups and projects.

Community police departments provide for the safety of residents in their communities in conventional and some rather unique-ways. Beverly Hills and Birmingham both have bicycle patrol programs in which biking officers, who are more approachable by residents than officers in police cars, patrol neighborhoods and special events. Bloomfield Hills will soon launch a two-year program in conjunction with Harley-Davidson in which public safety officers will patrol atop motorcycles. Birmingham finds that its mounted police division continues to be an effective and highly visible way to maintain public safety. Jazz, a German shepherd member of the Bloomfield Township police department's K-9 Unit, is a drug sniffing and tracking dog and a popular visitor to classrooms.

Police departments in Birmingham-Bloomfield also sponsor a number of public service programs, and some provide permanent liaisons to schools. Officers often go into the schools to talk to children about a number of law enforcement topics, including drug awareness and drug abuse prevention, stranger awareness, and traffic safety; and in the older grades make classroom presentations to government and law classes regarding the criminal justice system. Police officers also give tours and make presentations to other community groups, such as business owners on topics such as preventing retail fraud and homeowners on crime prevention tips.