Your City of Northville Police Department has been busy, and they’ve also had a lot to celebrate, including earning re-accreditation status and recognizing its 2024 Officer of the Year, Scott Groff.

Let’s find out a little more about Officer Groff, who also played an important role in the re-accreditation process, serving as assistant accreditation manager.

Northville Today: How long have you been with the NPD?
Officer Groff: I have been with Northville PD a little over 10-and-a-half years now.

Northville Today: What made you choose law enforcement as a career?
Officer Groff: I am actually a second-generation police officer. My father worked for and retired from Plymouth Township PD. Growing up I obviously was around police officers a lot, with my father being a cop, and I always admired the profession. I also spent nine years in the United States Air Force as a security forces member (Air Force’s version of a military police officer) so it was an easy transition to civilian policing.

Northville Today: What are your goals moving forward, pertaining to your career or life?
Officer Groff: One of my current goals is to finish my Bachelor of Science in cybersecurity, which I am completing online through Purdue Global University with an expected grad date in April of 2026 (I currently hold an MBA with a concentration in leadership studies, and Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Baker University). I am also working toward professional certifications from the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and CompTIA. I have developed a strong interest in cybercrime investigations and digital forensics and have been fortunate to have the opportunity with the department to take the lead on a lot of the fraud and identity cases we have come in.
About a year and a half ago I saw a drastic uptick in the number of scams and frauds we were seeing and, quite frankly, most of this crime revolved around cyber elements. I think it goes without saying that this sort of crime will only continue to grow, especially with the rising popularity and accessibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI). My goal for our department and community is to continue to seek more education and certifications in this area so we can continue to expand our abilities when educating the public but also investigating these crimes.

Northville Today: How do you feel about serving the residents in Northville/the community as a whole?
Officer Groff: I am very appreciative of the ability to work in a community in which the citizens are very supportive of our department. This is such a great community, where everyone keeps an eye out and helps each other out. It certainly helps when it comes to keeping the community safe.


Department Earns Prestigious Re-Accreditation Status

The Northville Police Department has recently completed the process of earning re-accreditation, a prestigious honor that culminated from hard work and the cooperation of everyone in the department, from Chief Maciag all the way down to the lowest seniority officer.

Accreditation team members included Accreditation Manager Sergeant Frank Cerulla, Assistant Accreditation Manager Officer Scott Groff and School Safety Administrator (SSA) Patrick Linberg.


What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a progressive process of helping law enforcement agencies calculate and improve their overall performance. Accreditation acknowledges the implementation of policies and procedures that are conceptually sound and operationally effective, while reflecting community values and guarding quality of life.

“The process of accreditation is very daunting,” Sgt. Cerulla said. “It takes countless hours of analyzing policy, procedure, written directives and overlooking our training standards to make sure we are always in compliance.”

“There are 100-plus standards that the department has to meet or exceed to be granted with accreditation,” Officer Groff added. “It ensures that we are providing the community with the best practices available when it comes to serving the community.”

“It is important for the community to realize that we strive to be the best police department we can be to provide exceptional service on a daily basis,” Sgt. Cerulla concluded.