Veteran Northville police officer retires after 22-year career
Northville Township Police Ofc. Kristen Romac has retired from the department after a 22-year career in law enforcement.
She quickly established herself as an expert in defensive tactics instruction and training, becoming one of the first TASER instructors in the department, and then went on to become a Master TASER Instructor and joined the firearms training unit.
She’s had a decorated career and was named Officer of the Year in 2016, received the Director's Award in 2022, and completed stints as a field training officer (2016). Her career path was set early, she said, following a traumatic break-in at her family’s Dearborn home. The kindness and concern of the responding police officer motivated her at the age of 10 to pursue a career in law enforcement.
“Kristen took a good training program and made it exceptional,” said longtime colleague Deputy Police Chief Matthew MacKenzie. “Her passion for training was at a very high level.”
So is her emphasis on giving her all, said Director of Public Safety and Police Chief Scott Hilden. “What makes Kristen an amazing officer is her commitment to always providing the best service,” he said. “She truly cared about people and always doing the right thing.”
While she’ll focus on assisting the next generation of officers in a new capacity, she’s excited to make every sports practice and game in which her daughter, 12, and son, 11, participate.
She said she plans to ramp up her hours at the Oakland Police Academy in Auburn Hills, where she’s already an instructor on her off time. She’s also job shadowing at a company that teaches officers how to be trainers.
“If neither of those pans out, I feel like I’d be a great greeter at Costco or something,” she said.
“What makes Kristen a good officer is that she is compassionate, kind, and truly cares about the people of the Northville community and her co-workers," said Northville Township Police Lt. Daniel MacArthur, who is a fellow firearms instructor with Romac.
“I'm going to miss the people I work with and the fun that I have with them, but I’m really going to miss the community,” Romac said.
Romac was the third female officer employed at Northville Township.
