by:Leon Hendrix
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A well-respected man who served as Grand Rapids police chief for 15 years in the 80s and 90s has died.
Family said William Hegarty died Saturday morning, several days after a fall in his home caused a bleed on his brain. He was 81.
He served as police chief in Grand Rapids from 1982 to 1997, according to an online biography for a Grand Valley State University scholarship in his name.
Hegarty also served as an adjunct professor in the university’s school of criminal justice during most of his tenure as chief.
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