Full Notification

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – This afternoon, friends, family, co-workers, City officials and community leaders joined in celebrating the promotions of 10 sworn members of the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD).
 
Following opening remarks by City Manager Mark Washington, Police Chief Eric Payne announced the official promotions along with a congratulatory message for each recipient.
 
“Each of you has been influential within this agency, showing great leadership and passion for this profession,” Payne said. “I will look to you to continue your drive for excellence, serve as a model for our newest officers and work with me to constantly improve the service to our community.”
 
Each of the recognized officers expressed their gratitude to their peers and loved ones in the room –some sharing stories and others passing on inspiring words, praise and support.
 
All promotional assignments, listed below, take effect Sept. 22.
 
Deputy Chief Scott Rifenberg – Administrative and Investigative Services
Captain Mark Ostapowicz – South Service Area
Captain Kristen Rogers – East Service Area
Lieutenant David Siver – Patrol Watch Commander
Lieutenant Catherine Williams – Patrol Watch Commander
Lieutenant Jonathan Wu – Vice Unit Commander
Sergeant Nicholas Calati – Patrol Supervisor
Sergeant Joseph Drelles – Patrol Supervisor
Sergeant Timothy Hoornstra – Patrol Supervisor
Sergeant Sean McCamman – Patrol Supervisor
 
“All of these officers bring years of experience and leadership within the agency – averaging 21 years of service and a track record of model leadership – that we plan to replicate with new hires and future leadership assignments,” Payne said.
 
Here’s a closer look at each promoted officer:
 
DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF SCOTT RIFENBERG was born in Holland and raised in Grand Rapids. He graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Deputy Chief Rifenberg began his career with the Grand Rapids Police Department in 1996, serving on patrol in the West and South service areas and spending six years with the Special Response Team (SRT). In September 2003, he was assigned to an acting sergeant role and served the Southwest Service Area. After his promotion to sergeant in August 2004, Deputy Chief Rifenberg held assignments in the East and South service areas, the Vice Unit and SRT. In January 2014, he was assigned as a watch commander in an acting lieutenant role. After his promotion to lieutenant in November 2014, he was assigned as commander of SRT. Upon being promoted to captain in July 2016, Deputy Chief Rifenberg became commander of the newly formed Central Service Area. His additional responsibilities have included serving as a field training officer, firearms instructor and use of force instructor. He is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and throughout his career has been awarded a Commendation Award, four Team Performance Awards, an Achievement Award, three Meritorious Unit Citations and a Chief’s Citation, along with several Letters of Recognition. He was nominated for the department’s Police Officer of the Year award in 2000 and 2007. Deputy Chief Rifenberg and his wife, Shannon, and have three daughters.

 
CAPTAIN MARK OSTAPOWICZ was born and raised in Grand Rapids. He graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., with bachelor’s degree in psychology. Captain Ostapowicz began his career with the Grand Rapids Police Department in 1992, serving on patrol in the North Service Area. In 1993, he  was assigned to the Vice Unit, which included a yearlong assignment with the Metropolitan Enforcement Team. In 1997, Captain Ostapowicz was assigned to the Special Response Team (SRT). He was a member of SRT for two years until his promotion to sergeant in 1999. After his promotion, he served as a patrol sergeant in the West Service Area until 2004, when he was assigned to the Training Unit. In November 2005, Captain Ostapowicz was assigned as a watch commander in an acting lieutenant role. Since his promotion to lieutenant in August 2007, he has held assignments as Detective Unit commander, Internal Affairs Unit commander and watch commander. Captain Ostapowicz holds additional duty assignments as commander of the Crisis Negotiation Team and as coordinator of the department’s Citizen Police Academy for the past 15 years.  Throughout his career, Captain Ostapowicz has been awarded a Team Performance Award, an Achievement Award, eight Meritorious Unit Citations and several Letters of Recognition.  Captain Ostapowicz and his wife, Melissa, and have a daughter and a son.    
LIEUTENANT DAVID SIVER was born in upstate New York and moved to the east side of Michigan when he was 8. He began his law enforcement career at the Saginaw Police Department in 1999, after serving nearly five years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Lieutenant Siver joined the Grand Rapids Police Department in September 2000 and worked in the East, South and West service areas. He was assigned to the Special Response Team (SRT) in July 2004, where his duties included team leader and Long Rifle Observer Team member. In 2008, Lieutenant Siver deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, with the Michigan National Guard in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon his return in January 2009, he resumed his duties in the SRT and then transferred back to patrol, where he worked in the West and North service areas, including after he was promoted to sergeant in July 2015. Lieutenant Siver returned to the SRT in 2017 as a supervisor. He has worked with the team since that time. During his tenure with the department, Lieutenant Siver has held additional duty assignments of defensive tactics instructor, firearms instructor, taser instructor, emergency vehicle operations instructor, field training officer, background investigator and an Honor Guard member for 17 years. Lieutenant Siver is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and throughout his career has been awarded a Commendation Award, two Team Performance Awards, three Meritorious Unit Citations, a Chief’s Citation and numerous Letters of Recognition. Lieutenant Siver and his wife, Claudia, have seven children and three grandchildren.   
LIEUTENANT CATHERINE WILLIAMS was born and raised in Lansing. She attended Ferris State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, an associate’s degree in early childhood education and a minor in communications. Lieutenant Williams began her career at the Grand Rapids Police Department in May 2001 and worked patrol in the North Service Area. In January 2014, she was assigned to an acting sergeant role in the South Service Area. After her promotion to sergeant in November 2014, Lieutenant Williams worked as a supervisor in the East Service Area and went on to spend two years in the Training Unit. In November 2017, she joined the Community Engagement Unit, where she has served as the department’s public information officer since that time. She also has held brief assignments in the Detective, Vice and Training units. Her additional duty assignments include serving as a field training officer, hostage negotiator, defensive tactics instructor and firearms instructor and as a member of the Cop-2-Cop Peer Support Team. Lieutenant Williams is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and throughout her career has been awarded three Team Performance Awards, an Achievement Award, five Meritorious Unit Citations, a Chief’s Citation and numerous Letters of Recognition. Lieutenant Williams and her husband, Jeremy, have three children.    
LIEUTENANT JONATHAN WU was born and raised and Grand Rapids and attended Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University. He began his career with the Grand Rapids Police Department in July 1992, working in patrol and then transferring to the Neighborhood Patrol Unit for five years. While working in the Vice Unit, Lieutenant Wu served as a K-9 handler for six years, including nearly two years as an acting sergeant. After his promotion to sergeant in 2004, Lieutenant Wu worked in the North and South service areas as the K-9 sergeant. When his K-9 partner, Dino, retired in June 2010, Lieutenant Wu worked as a patrol supervisor in the North Service Area. After serving as the sergeant in the Internal Affairs Unit for three years, he transferred to the Vice Unit in 2014. He has worked in the unit since that time, with his most current assignment as acting lieutenant. Lieutenant Wu has held additional duty assignments as a field training officer, K-9 trainer and certified cell phone examiner. He is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and throughout his career has been awarded a Distinguished Service Medal, five Commendation Awards, two Team Performance Awards, two Achievement Awards, four Meritorious Unit Citations and numerous Letters of Recognition. He was nominated for the department’s Police Officer of the Year award in 1995 and 1999. Lieutenant Wu and his wife, Alice, have a son and two daughters.  
SERGEANT NICHOLAS CALATI was raised on the Southeast Side of Grand Rapids and attended Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University. Sergeant Calati began his career with the Grand Rapids Police Department in 1997 as an intern. He went on to become a sponsored recruit of the department in 1998, graduating from the Oakland Community College Police Academy. Sergeant Calati worked 20 years on third shift in nearly every service area in the city. Since 2018, he has been one of the community policing specialists in the South Service Area. Sergeant Calati holds additional duty assignments as a field training officer, member of the Crisis Negotiator Team, recruiter, background investigator and as member of the Board of Awards. Sergeant Calati is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and throughout his career has been awarded a Team Performance Award, two Achievement Awards, a Certificate of Recognition and several Letters of Recognition. Sergeant Calati and his wife, Mandi, have three children together in addition to his two older children.  
SERGEANT JOSEPH DRELLES was born and raised in Grand Rapids. He graduated from Grand Rapids Community College with an associate of arts and from Ferris State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Sergeant Drelles began working for the Grand Rapids Police Department as an intern, from 2001 to 2006. During that time, he graduated from the Kalamazoo Law Enforcement Training Academy.  Sergeant Drelles began his career as a patrol officer in 2006 in Tempe, Ariz. While there, he served as a defensive tactics instructor, gang liaison officer and robbery/violent crimes detective. Some of his trainings included Reid interview and interrogation and FBI child abduction. In 2014, Sergeant Drelles returned to Grand Rapids to join the department. He has been assigned as a patrol officer in the North Service Area since that time. His additional duty assignments have included serving as a field training officer and as an advisor for the department’s Explorer Post since 2016. Sergeant Drelles is a graduate of the department’s Leadership Institute and has been awarded several Letters of Recognition and nominated for Police Officer of the Year award in 2018. Sergeant Drelles and his wife, Shannon, have four daughters.  
SERGEANT TIMOTHY HOORNSTRA was born in Coldwater and raised in L’Anse. Sergeant Hoornstra  joined the U.S. Air Force after high school, where he served as a law enforcement specialist and spent the majority of his time stationed at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. After his honorable discharge, Sergeant Hoornstra returned to Michigan, where he attended Northern Michigan University and received a degree in criminal justice. He joined the Grand Rapids Police Department in 1998 and began working in the West Service Area. He has been a member of the K-9 Unit since 2006, when he was assigned to the South Service Area. Sergeant Hoornstra worked with his first K-9 partner, Brik, from 2006 until 2014. He is currently working in the North Service Area with his second K-9 partner, Aero. Sergeant Hoornstra  has obtained certification as a K-9 master trainer. In addition, he has been assigned as a tactical K-9 Team with the Special Response Team since 2008. Throughout his career, Sergeant Hoornstra has been awarded two Lifesaving Medals, two Commendation Awards, a Team Performance Award, an Achievement Award, four Certificates of Recognition and 32 Letters of Recognition. He was nominated for the department’s Police Officer of the Year award in 2001 and 2012. Sergeant Hoornstra and his wife, Christine, have a son and a daughter.  
SERGEANT SEAN MCCAMMAN was born and raised in Kalamazoo. He served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves with one tour in Fallujah, Iraq, from 2006 to  2007. Sergeant McCamman earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Kalamazoo Valley Community College and graduated from its police academy in 2008. He was hired as a police officer by the Grand Rapids Police Department(GRPD)  in 2009. Due to budget issues, he was laid off in 2010. Sergeant McCamman worked for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety until he was able to return to GRPD in May 2011. He began working as a patrol officer in the South Service Area and then transitioned to a community policing specialist in the same area. In 2015, Sergeant McCamman was transferred to the Special Response Team (SRT), where he has remained since that time. Sergeant McCamman is a member of the SRT’s Long Rifle Observer Team and holds additional duty duties as a field training officer, defensive tactics instructor and firearms instructor. Throughout his career, Sergeant McCamman has earned a Team Performance Award, two Achievement Awards, two Meritorious Unit Citations, four Certificates of Recognition and 23 Letters of Recognition. He was named the department’s Police Officer of the Year in 2018 and was nominated for the same honor in 2013.  Sergeant McCamman and his wife, Laurel, have a daughter and son.
 
 
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