Michigan Association of Public Employees

By Jennifer Gomori, MAPE Editor

Cross trained as a police officer and firefighter, Beverly Hills Public Safety Lt. Chad Trussler has served his department in a variety of capacities and his comrades as a local Union board member.

Over the past 20 years Trussler has accumulated an abundance of police, firefighting and EMS experience in addition to representing local members. Now he’s taking his knowledge to the next level as a MAPE Labor Relations Specialist.

A MAP member for the past 13 years, Trussler served on the Beverly Hills Public Safety Officers Association MAP local union board as a former Steward and Treasurer and has been Local Union President for Beverly Hills Command Officers Association since 2015.

MAPE Labor Relations Specialist Chad Trussler

“The Command unit was always MAP since the beginning,” Trussler said. “I was pleased to come back to MAP when I was promoted to Sergeant in 2015. I’ve been the Local Union President for five years.”

A Lieutenant since 2017, Trussler has been with Beverly Hills Public Safety Department since January 2001, serving as a Detective/Public Safety Officer, Sergeant and Detective Sergeant. Prior to that, he served as a Romeo Village Police Officer and Pleasant Ridge Police Officer.

“I’ve always been attracted to labor and I’ve been an active member,” Trussler said. “I come from a family that benefited from being in unions. My great grandfather was actively involved in railroad union. My father was in the UAW. My mother was involved in the union in Utica Schools and my grandfather and father were members of Plumbers Local Union #98.”

The first in his family to become a Public Safety Officer, Trussler has a vast array of experience including serving as a former Field Training Officer (FTO) and current FTO Coordinator and Commander. As a state licensed Medical First Responder, he has responded to hundreds of medical complaints. He is a Certified Taser Instructor and ALICE Instructor, having achieved several law enforcement and firefighting certifications. Trussler has conducted and supervised firefighting and police operations, conducted training, written grants for equipment and projects, and presented public safety information during public events. He also served as a School Resource Officer for Birmingham Public Schools for four years.

Graduating with high honors, he received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Madonna University and is a 2019 graduate of Eastern Michigan University’s School of Police Staff & Command.

Trussler received two lifesaving awards for successfully resuscitating a woman’s in one instance and an elderly man in another. He also received a Certificate of Merit for successful apprehension of an armed robber/attempted murder suspect in Southfield. “It was right on our border,” he said. “An armed robber shot at some people at Little Ceaser’s. I was the first one on scene. We ended up apprehending him south of the business.”

He is active in the community, serving as a former advisor for Birmingham Youth Assistance, former member of Adopt a Senior Committee in Beverly Hills, and former Groves High School JV and Freshman and Berkshire Middle School Football Coach. The married father of two now coaches Sterling Football League and National Flag Football, Michigan League.

Trussler is ready to take on the challenges public safety unions are facing amid recent police reform protests and the pandemic. 

“On the police side with the whole criminal justice reform issue, I’m looking to a be a part of that and having some influence at the local level,” he said. “Also, with contract negotiations because I’m sure the discipline policies in the coming year will drastically change.”