As Washtenaw Community College prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary, we recognize the thousands of alumni who turned opportunity into achievement. For six decades, WCC has opened doors to education, careers, and brighter futures — and these 60 Stories that will be compiled over the year reflect that enduring mission.
After just a short time working with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division, Marlene Radzik decided to slightly change career paths. The first exit on her road to becoming a police officer was Washtenaw Community College.
Radzik, who was named the Saline Police Department’s first female Police Chief in March 2022, graduated from the WCC Police Academy in 1991, before attending Eastern Michigan University.
Her ambition and drive to become a police officer began at a very young age and in a very tragic way in her hometown of Flint.
“Being a police officer was always in my mind since I was 5 years old,” she said. “I was 5 when my brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was 15 years old and it happened right on our street. We were coming back from getting ice cream and there were a bunch of cop cars and an ambulance. I didn’t understand what was going on at the time, but I always remembered how the police dealt with my family and how compassionate they were.”
That moment planted the seed for a lifetime of service.
“I think it made me just want to help people,” she said. “I didn’t grasp it then at such a young age, but something happened where I was going to find a job where I could help people, like those police officers had helped my family.”
Radzik relocated from Flint to the Ann Arbor area in 1988 and her introduction to Washtenaw Community College soon followed.
“I was in a relationship at the time that brought me down here and I was working two jobs at the time and that’s when I started taking classes at WCC,” she said. “I started taking general classes, including some criminal justice classes. I loved the campus right away. That was something that stood out to me. And everything just seemed really professional and well run.”
Radzik began her law enforcement career with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office Corrections Division, and because she was working midnight shifts, she stopped taking classes at WCC — at least for the time being.
“I heard that the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office was hiring in their corrections division so I applied and got the job on March 6, 1989, as a corrections officer,” she said.
That role fueled her desire to help people and she soon began the process of getting on the road as a police officer. And the first road led back to WCC's Police Academy.
“I had a great instructor and I just remember the camaraderie with the people in the class,” she said. “I think our graduating class was around 44. That camaraderie really resonated with me.”
It also helped prepare for every role she would have in law enforcement, from patrol officer to sergeant to lieutenant to commander to deputy chief and even Saline Police Chief.
“That experience impacted everything in my career,” she said. “The discipline was driven home every day and that has stayed with me."
"What I love about the WCC academy is how they have changed with the times. Now they're doing all this training around mental health. When I went there, it was more of a warrior mindset. Now, there is more of a guardian mindset, which I love and is where we are heading.”
A few years ago, Radzik was asked to be the guest speaker at the WCC Police Academy graduation ceremony, which she described as a proud moment.
“That was pretty emotional because I had walked in their shoes and knew what a big moment this was for them," Radzik said. "It also was emotional because my dad was my hero and he was always so proud of me, but he wasn’t there to share this with me. But I knew he would be so proud.”
During her 30-year career with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, Radzik was an undercover narcotics detective at LAWNET, a member of the underwater search and recovery team, and served on the Washtenaw Metro Crisis Negotiations Team as a negotiator and then as executive officer. She also helped train and mentor dozens of recruit deputies as field training officer and supervisor.
Her long list of titles have included Police Services Commander, Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant and Lieutenant. And she certainly made a difference not only in her department, but the community as well.
Radzik, 58, was awarded the Medal of Valor and received nine Meritorious Service and Unit Citations throughout her career with Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. She later became a special consultant for Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office where she assisted the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program and oversaw sensitive internal investigations.
Radzik retired from the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office in 2018 with the intention of spending time with her extended and growing family. She rejoined her brothers and sisters in blue when she became the Deputy Chief of the Saline Police Department in July 2020.
While Deputy Chief, Radzik helped adjust personnel, modernized their 9-1-1 dispatch services, put Saline officers in tactical Class B uniforms, and transitioned to exterior equipment vests to mitigate chronic low back and hip injuries.
“And, for the first time ever, our officers are wearing body cameras that automatically activate when triggered by certain events,” she said. “We place a high priority on citizen safety and positive community engagement, regardless of circumstances. We’re moving forward in a good direction.”
Becoming police chief in Saline in 2022 was another proud moment for Radzik. The Saline Police Department has 15 sworn officers, including the deputy chief and chief.
Radzik and her husband, Michael, who retired from the WCSO as a lieutenant, raised a family of six girls in Saline.
“I love Saline,” she says. “My daughters all graduated from Saline High School and we lived here for many years, so we know the community very well.”
Radzik says she is a strong advocate for the total policing philosophy, which embraces problem-oriented policing and community engagement to address root causes related to crime.
“I initiated the EASY project (Enforcement Against Streetworkers in Ypsilanti) and partnered with Community Mental Health to address substance use disorder and mental illness among reoccurring offenders in an effort to stop prostitution recidivism,” she said. “In Superior Township’s MacArthur Boulevard housing community, I supervised a team of deputies tasked with restoring law and order through focused enforcement strategies and strong engagement with residents, public and private partners. I also served on the Board of Directors at Home of New Vision. I have a passion for people and seeing them succeed.”
She also has had a lifetime passion for helping people and has done exactly that in her 37 years in law enforcement.
Tags: 60 Stories, 60th Anniversary, Alumni Profile, Criminal Justice, Launch Fall 2026, Police Academy