Dave Willis in uniform

Dave Willis has strong local roots. He was born in Detroit to David and Angela (Schutt) Willis and raised in Mt. Clemens. He grew up in a hard-working German-English family that valued service to community and country and a strong notion of right and wrong.

Dave’s father, now retired, was a highly decorated sergeant with the Mt. Clemens Police Department. His mother Angela, a registered nurse and formerly long-time Director of Macomb County Senior Citizen Services, is currently Director of the Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (MCREST). Both parents made sure that Dave shared their values of hard work, service to community and a strong notion of right and wrong.

Growing up on May St. in Mt. Clemens, Dave had a typical Macomb boyhood playing hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer. He attended Macomb Alexander, St. Mary’s, Detroit De LaSalle and graduated from Mt. Clemens High School.

After school, Dave enlisted in the Navy. That was just something that the Willis men did, service to country.

Dave comes from a family of cops. Not only his father, but also fourteen of his uncles, brothers and cousins are or were cops. It was natural for him to apply for a job with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department in 1989. Beginning as a corrections officer for the Department in 1989, Dave became a patrol Deputy in 1996 and was promoted to sergeant in 2001.

Dave is committed to law enforcement. He has received training from the reserve police academy and the Macomb Community College Police Academy (1996 graduate). His professional development training included Accident Investigation (EMU), Evidence Technician School, Fire Investigation School and Hostage Negotiations School.

As a committed “street cop”, Dave has made over 2000 arrests, including several hundred felony arrests. He knows firsthand that neighborhood and community safety requires “tough street cops” taking the crooks off our streets and an efficiently run jail that keeps them behind bars.

Dave’s commitment to community service, learned from his parents, has continued outside of his job. Along with membership and volunteer activities with many community groups, Dave was elected and served as a Charter Commissioner for the cities of Centerline and Warren. He served as Treasurer of the Charter Commission (helping the Commission achieve its goal 40% under budget) and was involved in all of the deliberations that formed our new county government.

Dave, his wife and two children have lived in Centerline for twenty years.