Bloomfield Hills Police Chief Named OCC Outstanding Alumnus

Chief Richard Matott was honored over the weekend as Oakland Community College’s Outstanding Alumnus for 2012. He received the special acknowledgement during commencement Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

“We are proud to add Chief Matott’s name to the roster of OCC’s Outstanding Alumni," OCC Chancellor Timothy R. Meyer said in a news release. "His successful career reflects well on the education he received at the college."

Meyer also highlighted Matott's support of OCC’s Emergency Services Training Division, serving as vice chair of our Police Advisory Committee and sending his departments’ personnel to train at the Combined Regional Emergency Services Training (CREST) facility.

After discharge from the United States Air Force in 1980, Matott joined the as a police dispatcher. He earned an associate degree in law enforcement from Oakland Community College in 1983 and continued his OCC education at the Oakland Police Academy as a police officer candidate.

Upon graduation from the academy, he was hired by Bloomfield Hills as a police officer. Chief Matott earned another associate degree in fire science from Macomb Community College in 1986, and a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Wayne State University in 1992.

Chief Matott has spent his entire professional career at the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety, working his way up through the ranks as sergeant in 1999, lieutenant in 2003, and finally as director of the department in 2005.   He is a member of many professional organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Oakland County Association of Chiefs of Police, the Oakland Police Academy Advisory Committee, the Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs, the Southeastern Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs, the Vietnam Security Police Association and the Vietnam Dog Handlers’ Association. Chief Matott and his wife, Debra, reside in Troy. They are the parents of an adult son, Richard, who is a public safety officer.

—Courtesy of Oakland Community College