Clinton Township’s new police chief knows a thing or two about the brotherhood of law enforcement.

That’s because, in addition to knowing quite a few police officers over the past two decades, Preston Susalla’s brother is also a police officer in neighboring Sterling Heights.

They never planned it that way, it “just kind of happened,” he said last week.

“We’re a year and a half apart in age and had a lot of similar interests growing up and both found law enforcement to be interesting when we took criminal justice classes at Macomb Community College,” Preston Susalla said.

“It was awesome. We loved it. It felt right and so that was the path we took.”

His brother, Aaron Susalla, agreed.

“We actually had this conversation the other day,” he said.

“When we were in high school and growing up, we wouldn’t even have figured us to be police officers, let alone administrators in the police world. Preston earning the honor of becoming the chief of police was never anticipated, and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Aaron Susalla said.

Earlier this month, Preston Susalla was sworn in as the Clinton Township Police Department’s seventh police chief.

He was initially appointed by the Board of Trustees back in October to succeed former Chief Dina Caringi as the department’s head, but the appointment didn’t take effect until June 2025 when Caringi retired after four years in that role.

At the time, Caringi said the reason why a new chief was being named with so much lead time she wanted a “more thoughtful transition” and give Susalla plenty of time to become acclimated to the leadership role.

“He is going to take the department further,” she said of Susalla, who previously worked as an accreditation manager for the department.

As chief, Susalla, 45, oversees a department that has 91 current officers with funding available for five more.

He earned a bachelor of business administration degree in diversity and leadership from Cleary University. He is also a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police and Staff Management.

Susalla’s 22-year career began when he started as a road patrol officer in 2002 in the Clinton Township Police Department. From there, he was promoted to a detective, patrol sergeant, support services lieutenant, and administrative captain.

He’s taken on a wide range of responsibilities during that time, including a field training officer, crisis negotiator, mobile field force member, and public relations officer. He also played a key role in earning the department’s accreditation through the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission.

“My philosophy is to treat everyone with respect, I think that is huge,” Susalla said.

“I think it’s important have a teamwork concept, with everyone working together toward a common goal. When people buy into that frame of mind and you can get everyone on the same page, that’s when great things can happen.”

His goals include getting the department prepared for an Aug. 5 police millage renewal vote, maintaining the accreditation status, enhancing the department’s events and social media presence, and updating policies and procedures to make sure the department is transparent.

“I think we have quite a group of talented and dedicated professionals here, but I understand there’s always room for improvement,” the chief said.

Competitive growing up

The two brothers are the sole children of a father who worked in construction and a mom who was involved in occupational therapy.

They were “extremely competitive” as youngsters, according to Aaron Susalla.

“Whether it was sports or simply who got to sit in the front seat of the car, you could bet it would be a competition,” he said. “Incredibly, most likely because he had a year and a half on me, he always seemed to get the front seat. Though we are still competitive till this day, the atmosphere has switched to a much more supportive environment, wanting success for each other.”

Being the oldest brother, Preston was the first to land a career in police work. Aaron soon followed, earning a position on the Sterling Heights Police Department, holding a number of positions along the way.

Earlier this year, he was promoted from a sergeant in the department’s public relations unit to a lieutenant overseeing the traffic bureau.

Aaron Susalla predicts his brother’s tenure as head of the department will be a noteworthy and respectable one.

“Knowing Preston’s work ethic and leadership ability, I am confident that he will do better than OK,” he said. “I will even go on record and say he is going to do great as the head of the (police department).

“I will concede the front seat of the car to him on this one.”