Brandon Twp.- For his 56th birthday this year, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mike Searing will celebrate with his first full day of retirement.
Searing, who has been in law enforcement for 32 years and has spent the past year as sergeant of the Brandon substation, will work his last day here on Dec. 7.
‘I’ve always loved my job,? says Searing. ‘I’ve been blessed in that.?
Searing decided on law enforcement as a career path while growing up in Detroit.
‘I was a bit of a juvenile delinquent and I figured rather than complain about police, I should join and see if I could do better,? he said.
He attended the Oakland Police Academy and began his career at the Northland Center Police Department, the only private police department in the state at the time. He worked there for three years and then spent six months with the White Lake Police Department, before being hired by the OCSO in 1979. Searing’s career has been varied? he has worked the alcohol enforcement unit, general patrol, the Narcotics Enforcement Team, corrections at the Oakland County Jail, and been part of the mounted patrol in the parks division, where he also rode mountain bikes. He finally arrived in Brandon in October 2006.
While Searing calls Brandon a high point of his career, he has had many highlights during his years in law enforcement. He spent 13 years in SWAT and was able to put that training to good use, conducting between 500 and 600 raids or tactical arrests as part of NET.
‘You have to have all of your senses keyed to keep everyone safe,? Searing said. ‘It’s challenging and rewarding.?
He remembers raiding one house in a subdivision in West Bloomfield, where police seized $1.2 million in cash? at that time, the largest cash seizure in Oakland County. They also took a Rolls Royce and other expensive assets, totaling more than $6 million. The suspects in that case were convicted and are serving life prison terms.
Although Searing worked with a team, which he said did an excellent job, he recalls another time when he was working undercover and alone and went to a house to buy pharmaceuticals. The drug dealers in that case suspected Searing might be a cop.
‘These six guys threatened to turn me upside down and shake me until my badge fell out,? he said. ‘I had to return to that house again and was shaking in my tennis shoes when I knocked on the door, but then dropped into character and did fine.?
That was perhaps the most frightening moment of his career, but he laughs when he remembers another raid. His colleagues entered, yelling, ‘Police! Get down!? and then as they went through the house, hollered, ‘Clear!? Just as Searing had counted each clear and the house should have been secured, he suddenly heard another shouting of ‘Police! Get down!?
‘I was thinking, ‘What’s going on? We’re secure,? and I look over and the yelling was coming from the big screen TV, where (the suspects) had been watching police raids,? he said.
Another amusing moment came not during his years on NET, but when he was on patrol in the late ?80s and arrested former Detroit Lions Coach Wayne Fontes for drunk driving.
Searing recalls receiving the call in Rochester on an accident where the driver fled the scene after calling for another car. When Searing pulled him over, Fontes asked him if he knew who he was, and continued on to inform him he was the coach of the Lions.
Searing’s reply caused Fontes to look at him like he was from another world.
‘I told him I’m a Bears fan,? Searing says, laughing.
While he found humor in his job at times and has often enjoyed it, he disliked the toll it took on his family. Searing is the father of four adult children’one of whom works in a crime lab? and has been married for 10 years.
He plans to do some part-time work for OCSO at the Pontiac courthouse, but is retiring to spend more time with his family, volunteer more (he is very involved with his church) and travel.
‘I’m proud to be called Sarge,? he said. ‘I love the street and that’s why I didn’t want to be higher. I made it to sergeant… I hope that I’ve been a good one.?