Engstrom began his career in law enforcement in 1989 with the City of Westland Police Department. He was blessed to have training officers and command officers that demonstrated sound tactics and ethical decision making, laying a foundation that would guide him throughout his career. As an officer, Engstrom consistently led his shifts in proactive enforcement activities, striving to lead by example among his peers. He served as a DARE officer for three years, teaching valuable lessons to K-12 students, while developing important public relations and community policing skills.In 1998, Engstrom was promoted to sergeant. During that time, he developed a patrol tactics training program, a Citizen's Police Academy, and implemented and refined policies to help the overall efficiency of the patrol division.In 2002, Engstrom was promoted to lieutenant. He worked closely with administration in developing patrol productivity standards and an overall annual departmental evaluation procedure. In 2005, Engstrom became the commanding officer of the Special Investigations Unit as well as a multi-jurisdictional unit known as the Metro Street Enforcement Team. Working with the "best of the best", he led the units to record search warrants, arrests, and forfeitures. At the same time, he worked diligently to develop new protocols for forfeitures, resulting in record assets.In 2009, Engstrom was promoted to Deputy Chief of Police. He worked closely with patrol lieutenants in demonstrating uniform standards for the entire patrol division while implementing regular roll-call training to improve officer safety and reduce liability.In August of 2010, Engstrom retired and became Director of Security for a private high school in West Bloomfield, taking a proactive approach in empowering students and staff to know what to do in high-risk, low-frequency emergency situations. In August 2012, Engstrom was hired by Schoolcraft College as second-in-command of the, then, security department. Before becoming a fully certified police department on March 28, 2016, Engstrom was instrumental in developing an entirely new policy manual, recruiting experienced officers, and standing up a state-of-the-art Intelligence Operations Center. In September of 2020, Mark Engstrom was named Chief of Police. He has worked diligently to enhance the Department’s relationships with the campus community, develop a dynamic command staff, and take the standards of the organization even higher through the accreditation process. His motto remains "To the best of my ability, so help me God."