Novi Dedicates Street to Lee BeGole

There's a new street in town: Lee BeGole Drive.

The former Delwal Drive was renamed in a ceremony Thursday morning to honor Novi's first police chief, who retired in 1991 after serving the department for 37 years.

"This is indeed one of the finest honors a person could be paid," BeGole said.

BeGole became Novi's first police chief in 1954 after serving in World War II and also served as the director of public safety. He spoke at the ceremony of his memories of being Novi's sole police officer and living above the fire department.

"Novi has grown well and so finely since that I can't stand here today and believe it," he said.

His street is located on the north side of 11 Mile Road between Town Center Drive and Meadowbrook Road. Novi’s Department of Public Services Field Services Complex and the Police Department’s Indoor Gun Range and Testing Facility are both located on this street.

"I only wish I could have foreseen this all those years ago. I wouldn't have believed it! And I don't believe it today," BeGole said.

Novi City Manager Clay Pearson told the audience about how BeGole continues to be civically active today in the Novi Youth Association and the Rotary.

"In a lot of ways, you describe a city by the streets in which it includes," said Pearson. "Novi is Haggerty Road to Napier and Eight Mile to 14, so it's really important, I think, that we think about some of the roads because it's the people that make up Novi, so the people should be reflected in those roads."

Starting the police department off right

BeGole also spoke of how Novi was the first police department in Michigan to require applicants to have a four-year degree. It's a precendent that set the tone of the department for years to come, said Novi's current Police Chief David Molloy. 

"What he did most of all, I believe, is he established the vision and he established the values," Molloy said of BeGole.

Molloy said that today more than 90 percent of the police department has a graduate degree, law degree or public administration degree.

He said BeGole continues to leave an impression on the police and fire departments.

"He's a true icon in law enforcement, he's a hero and he's certainly someone that we all know and love," Molloy said.

Novi Mayor Dave Landry agreed that BeGole has shaped what Novi is today.

"It has been said that a great institution is nothing more than the long shadow of a person. For the Novi Police Department, that person is Lee BeGole, and we all stand in his shadow," Landry said.

Landry also noted that although the police headquarters building already pays tribute to BeGole, the honor is not enough.

"The pulse of this community beats daily in the lives of its residents and businesses in their homes and on the streets of Novi," Landry said. "Therefore, it is alltogether fitting that one of those streets bearst the name Lee BeGole Dr. For the safety and security of the streets of Novi is what he dedicated his life to."