Stockbridge Township, in goodwill gesture, equips village police with lifesaving equipment

by Patrice Johnson

Neighborliness, conspicuously lacking among state and federal entities, is alive and well in the Stockbridge community. March 3, in a goodwill gesture, the Stockbridge Township Board donated a used automatic external defibrillator (AED) to the Village of Stockbridge Police Department.

“I want to thank Terry Sommer and the rest of the Stockbridge Twp. Board members for deciding to donate a used AED to the Stockbridge Police Dept,” wrote Johnnie Torres, Chief of Police for the Village of Stockbridge, on a recent Facebook post. “SPD’s current AEDs are over 12 years old and were purchased through a grant, and this new AED is a major upgrade.”

An AED is a computerized machine that analyzes heartbeats. If it identifies a patient suffering from uncoordinated heart rhythms, called ventricular fibrillation, it emits a jolt of electricity to stop the arrhythmia and enable the heart to re-establish a normal rhythm—a vital intervention since uncoordinated heart rhythms are most often responsible for sudden cardiac arrest. Timely and effective treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

New AEDs retail for $1,400, so this was a generous donation from the Stockbridge Township Board. But what makes the gesture even more special are the politics—civics, if you will—as evidenced in Torres’ next statement. “I appreciate the goodwill shown to this department and to the village as a whole.”

Newcomers to the area—and more than a few lifetime residents—sometimes scratch their heads at references to the Village of Stockbridge and Stockbridge Township. Both are distinct and separate civic entities. Both were formed long ago for reasons only local history buffs could explain.

The village consists of the downtown retail district and a contiguous 1.52 square-mile area. The township encompasses a much larger, 36-square-mile area that surrounds the village. As if to add zest to relationship, Stockbridge Township owns the Township Square and the Township Hall, plunked right in the center of the village.

The population of the village was recorded as 1,395 in 2019; US Census data in 2018 put the township population at 4,032, more than twice the size of the village. The two entertain separate governing bodies, planning commissions, offices, and tax bases. The Stockbridge Police Department patrols the village; township residents are supposed to rely on Ingham County Police—though in times of need, many reach out to the SPD and receive prompt and professional assistance.

Needless to say, the relationship does not always run smooth as silk.

Whether by design or happenstance, the cannon on the south corner of the Township Square, the statue honoring Civil War soldiers on the north corner, and the larger gazebo near the east corner serve as symbols of the sometimes bellicose, most-times proud, and always often interdependent relationship between the township and village.

The Township Board’s donation of the AED to the village Police falls into the interdependent, gazebo category, a testament to the relationship between village and township residents.

On Feb. 15, the Stockbridge Community News reported that the Stockbridge Township Board purchased two new AEDs to be placed in the Stockbridge Township Hall.

“At our February meeting, the board wanted to donate two AED‘s to somewhere in the Township,” Supervisor C.G. Lantis stated. “We had purchased two new AED’s to update the township, so we had two extras.” He said the board decided to donate to local law-enforcement, and he added, “We donated the second AED to the Baptist Church located out on Heeney and Parman roads because of their strategic location in a rural area of the township.”

John Beck, general manager of the Stockbridge Area Emergency Services Authority, summarized the Township Board’s action, “The purchase of these lifesaving devices and placement throughout the community, plus the pursuit of education, shows true caring and compassion for the residents of our community.”

Terry Sommer (right) passes automatic external defibrillator (AED) to Village Police Chief Johnnie Torres.