Northville Police Officer Louise Gross is a petite woman who is often mistaken for a teenager yet she is steeped in the criminal justice system and focused on making it her life’s calling. She grew up in a military family – her father served in all four branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and her brother was in the Navy. She’s been a hunter since her pre-teen years, shooting a four-point buck as her first capture, which was turned into a family dinner. She’s as comfortable shooting a long-range rifle as she is with the pistol that fits in the holster of her police uniform.
The media and entertainment industry played a role in her fascination with police work. She grew up watching NCIS, Criminal Mind and the Rookie, and she gravitates toward action-packed video games such as Phasmaphobia. Movie tastes range from horror movies and thrillers to kid-friendly movies, especially Disney.
She graduated from the Mid-Michigan Police Academy after earning a B.S. in Criminal Justice, from Ferris State in December, 2018. Classes were taught in Lansing in Ferris State’s 3 +1 program, so she didn’t have to travel to the Big Rapids campus.
Prior to joining the police department, she was a member of the Huron Clinton Metroparks Police. That was the same service that fellow officer Joashua Clines worked for. He had called there last year, when the department had openings, to see if any of his former co-workers wanted to work for NCPD. While Gross hadn’t worked with Clines, she heard about the opening and jumped at it.
She plans to serve the Northville community by “doing my best on calls,” in part by understanding the people she is dealing with and helping them find solutions.
There are a lot of events in Northville, which brings her great joy but also requires a watchful eye of what’s going on in the crowds. It’s about expecting the best but always being prepared for emergencies.
“The events are really chill. We’re always smiling for the people. It’s really nice. I like seeing them smile,” Gross said. She handed out candy during the Oct. 28 Streets for Treats, and noted, “I really loved interacting with people. They have been really nice and they definitely support us.” The only bad part was that she ran out of candy.
One of her favorite aspects of policing is keeping people safe. Community policing in a small town like Northville checks all the boxes for her. It has a low crime rate. The people are friendly. There are plenty of resources available in the community to help people in crisis. And she has the support of her fellow officers and the police administrators, headed by Police Chief Al Maciag. She would like to become a field training officer, who trains new recruits. She became a full-fledged police officer for Northville on Oct. 15 after being trained by Officers Pete Davis (now retired) and Frank Cerulla and Sgt. Andrew Kirby.
She was born in Kellogg, Idaho, but later moved to Ionia County in Michigan with her family. Her late mother was a native of the Philippines, which is how she learned to speak Tagalog fluently. She now lives in Shelby Township with her boyfriend and two Corgies, Hero and Thunder. She works the midnight shift but also claims that’s her favorite one – being awake while much of the world sleeps.