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$105,591 pension on top of $310,000 salary

July 18, 2025

 

Former Lansing police chief Michael Yankowski retired on August 15, 2019 at the age of 46. That November, he took a job as Assistant Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance in MSU's Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance at a salary of $125,000. In November 2024, he moved up to Chief of Police at MSU at a salary of $310,000. His City of Lansing pension is $105,591.78.   Another former Lansing police chief, Ellery Sosebee, took over Yankowski's old MSU job with the Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance. His salary is $142,800. He retired from the City of Lansing at the end of June 2024 with a pension of $55,020.38.   When you retire at age 50 (or younger) as most Lansing police and firefighters

Yankowski getting sworn in at MSU

do, you very likely go on to another career. I suspect most of them plan on it early on. About a third of them are in such a hurry that they purchase service in order to meet the minimum years to qualify. They get health insurance with their pension, so they don't need it in their next job/business, and that opens up more opportunities.

The only second careers I hear about are ones that are in the news, and the only ones in the news are the chiefs and other high-level employees. So my ongoing list of retired Lansing police and firefighters who have gone on to new careers is only the tip of the iceberg. I don't blame them, but it makes me think Lansing's pension system for police and firefighters is causing us to lose healthy, experienced staff much too soon. My solution would be offer higher salaries instead of pensions. Pay them to work, not leave.

I've added Sosebee to my list and I've updated my entry on Yankowski.

1. Mark Alley, Lansing's former chief of police, retired in March of 2010 to take a job as senior director of risk management for Emergent BioSolutions Inc. in Lansing. His title then was Vice President of Global Protective Services and Public Affairs. We don't know his new salary, but we do know that his pension from the City is $90,356. Alley retired at age 48. He had only 24 years and one month of service, so he purchased another 11 months at a cost of $107,812.

2. Police Lieutenant Bruce Ferguson retired in 2010 at age 50 with a $66,507 pension. In January 2013, he became chief of police for the City of DeWitt at a salary of $65,000. (Lansing State Journal, 1/26/2013)

3. David Ford and Walter Holden retired from the Fire Department in June 2010 to run First Due Fire Supply in Mason - established April 2007. Ford's pension is $70,356 and Holden's is $62,288. Employees also include Lansing firefighter Chris Wheeler and duty disability retiree Dan Hamel (retired 7/20/2010, pension $45,560). Ford and Holden later sold the company to Hamel and are "working on some other ventures."

4. Tom Cochran retired as Lansing's fire chief in January, 2012 at age 58. He receives a pension of approximately $77,000. After retirement, he served as state representative for six years at a salary of $71,685. From July 2019 to May 2021, he worked in the State Fire Marshal's office at a salary of about $105,000. (source: Tom Cochran) Now, on a 2024 payroll report, there is a Thomas D Cochran shown as director of the Ovation Center, Lansing's new performance arts center, at a salary of $84,871.90.

5. Lansing police captain Ray Hall retired in February 2012 at age 49 to take a job with University of Michigan-Flint as chief of police. According to this response to my FOIA request, his new salary is $103,000. His City of Lansing pension is $73,178. He was 16 months shy of the 25 years needed to qualify for a pension, so he purchased 16 months.

6. In July 2013, former Lansing police chief Teresa Szymanski landed a job as the Lansing School District's chief operations officer. She retired from the Lansing police force on April 19, 2013 at age 50, with 26 years of service. Her salary on her new job is $120,000. Her annual pension from Lansing's Police and Fire Retirement System is about $90,000, based on what her predecessor Mark Alley got when he retired in March 2010.

7. In February 2014, Lieutenant Noel Garcia retired from the Lansing Police Department after 24 years (LSJ, 2/28/2014). He immediately took a job as law enforcement instructor for the Lansing Area School District at a salary of $62,631. His pension is approximately $60,000.

8. In November 2014, at age 45, assistant fire chief Trent Atkins accepted the new position of Emergency Operations Manager at the Board of Water and Light. His salary was $130,000. He was 9 months short of the 25 years needed to qualify for a City of Lansing pension, so he purchased them. His pension will be "around $70,000." (LSJ, 11/25/14) He later resigned from the BWL, saying "he has offers to do consulting work and wants to spend more time with his family." (LSJ, 5/20/17)

9. Daniel Oberst was chief of training for the Fire Department when retired on April 18, 2015 at age 54. His pension is about $79,000. After retirement, he took a job as fire chief for Bath Township, where his salary was $61,675. He left that job when his contract expired.

10. Detective Teresa Eisfelder retired 3/20/2012 at age 46 with a duty disability. She now works for the U.S. Marshalls in Georgia as a federal court security officer. Her pension is $64,936 (LSJ, 8/10/17).

11. Police officer Robert Merritt retired 5/16/2015 at age 48. His pension is $53,533. On 5/18/2015, he was hired on contract by LPD to serve as Public Information Director. His salary is $65,018.

12. Michael Hamel was Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Lansing when he retired in August of 2016 at the age of 50. After 2 years at the Lansing Board of Water and Light, he was hired as Fire Chief for Meridian Township. His salary is $92,716 and his City of Lansing pension is $72,662.49.

13. Lansing police chief Michael Yankowski retired August 15, 2019 at the age of 46. He purchased a month of service to bring his total to 25 years. In November, he took a job as Assistant Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance in MSU's new Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance at a salary of $125,000. In November 2024, he moved up to Chief of Police at MSU at a salary of $310,000. His City of Lansing pension is $105,591.78.

14. Police captain Thomas Fabus retired March 14, 2020 with a $86,810 pension. As reported in the Lansing State Journal, he has taken a job with the state Attorney General as Chief of Investigations. His salary is $112,905.

15. Police chief Daryl Green retired June 25, 2021 with a $99,348 pension. As reported in the Lansing State Journal, his new job was chief of staff for MSU Police Chief Marlon Lynch at a salary of $135,000. In August 2022, he left MSU to take a new job as associate vice president of public safety and chief of police at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

16. Former Lansing police chief Ellery Sosebee took a job with MSU's Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance. His salary is $142,800. He retired from the City of Lansing at the end of June 2024 with a pension of $55,020.38.