Tschirgi retiring after long career in law enforcement

By Willis Patenaude  | Times-Register

One day you’re growing up on a small farm near Mederville, running around, presumably playing in the fields, maybe even doing some chores and learning life lessons handed down from family. Lessons that taught you to help a neighbor in need or take time for a cup of coffee and a snack with grandma—moments that seem like lost art, you could say, but the lessons, once ingrained, never leave. They are carried throughout life, in every interaction, choice and job. Helping people and the community becomes a way of life and drives all that follows. 

Then, one day, after 35 years serving with the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department, a triple bypass surgery, the death of a family dog to cancer and the days of youth spent on the farm nothing more than memories, a thought arises. Something tells you “life is too short,” that the time to serve has finally come to an end and it might be time to focus on the future. A future with family and seven grandkids who are likely learning the same life lessons Sheriff Mike Tschirgi learned so many years ago on that small farm. 

It’s in the years between the small farm and the time with his grandkids where Tschirgi, who announced his retirement in June 2023, lived life and served the community according to those life lessons that can be viewed as “old school” to some. But, to Tschirgi, being sheriff wasn’t just about patrolling and arresting people. It was kind of like the “Andy Griffith Show,” which always hit close to home for Tschirgi, because it embodied how life used to be when he was young. Back when the sheriff was also a friend and a neighbor, and sometimes enforced the law from his heart and not the book. As Tschirgi saw it, “Listening to citizens and trying to reason with them is a lot of times better than force.”

Finding his way into policing seemed a natural course. After all, police officers are supposed to help people—at least that’s what they did back in Mayberry. When a series of allergies kept Tschirgi from taking over the farm or joining the military, he looked for another option where he would be “doing something to help the community.” 

The interest further deepened when Tschirgi did a job shadow with the Elkader Police Department his senior year of high school. After graduating in 1986, he went on to Hawkeye College, where he graduated in May 1988 with an associate of applied arts degree in police science while working part-time for the Elkader Police Department. 

In July 1990, Tschirgi was hired as a full-time officer by the Guttenberg Police Department. He took an interest in investigations and solving burglaries, which appealed to him because they were like solving a puzzle. More to the point, catching criminals was “always an interest” for him. 

Tschirgi also had another interest, which was working for the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, which he considers the “highest respected law enforcement office in the country.” Working at the sheriff’s office allowed him to travel out of town and cover more territory, as well as working on other things that needed to be done, such as investigating crimes, serving civil papers, covering traffic accidents and solving problems that were called in.

On Jan. 2, 1991, Tschirgi was hired by Verdean Dietrich to work for the sheriff’s office. He also went to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, graduating in October 1991, where he learned “things you would use every day in the law enforcement field and it gives you an idea of what to prepare for when dealing with the public,” he said. 

The hardest part for Tschirgi was being away from his family, which included a newborn son. It was a difficulty of the job that would never go away. 

In the early years, Tschirgi was guided by role models, including Dietrich, an ethical, hard working man who, in law enforcement parlance, was an “original” Tschirgi respected. Another role model was Don Harstad, who Tschirgi called a “good mentor” who he worked with on investigations. 

One thing Tschirgi learned early on and tried to pay attention to is what he reiterates to students who ride along today with an interest in law enforcement: observe the good habits and try not to copy the bad. 

Tschirgi believes one of the best habits is “listening to people when they talk, whether it is a citizen or a criminal that just wants to make their case heard. I always felt that was one of the best things I learned over the years.” 

As for a bad habit not to emulate, Tschirgi said that would be procrastination, especially when it comes to doing all the paperwork involved with law enforcement. Tschirgi admitted he “got better” with it over the years, but it was “never a favorite thing.”

Back then, Tschirgi was working patrol, doing mostly criminal investigations, taking photographs, fingerprinting, interviewing, presiding over interrogation—anything so victims knew they mattered, that something was being done to solve whatever crime was committed. 

There were some good memories along the way, like simply helping someone change a tire, being the first on the scene of a bank robbery and catching the suspect without incident or matching a footprint at a crime scene with the help of the DCI lab. Those “feel good” moments you get from knowing you’re helping someone in need. 

Of course, there were some bad times too, like traffic accidents, suicides or accidental deaths. 

“When there was a victim on a shift I covered that had passed, I always said a prayer for that person,” Tschirgi said. 

It was during this period when Tschirgi received Special Congressional Recognition in 2002 for his work as part of a special operations group tactical team to combat the methamphetamine problem in Clayton County. Tschirgi said the experience taught the group of law enforcement officers to work together, and it formed a type of “Band of Brothers.” 

“We busted a lot of people and worked well together trying to crack down on the problem. We have started up a similar group right now and hopefully will get back on narcotics enforcement more in the future,” Tschirgi added. 

A few years later, Tschirgi felt there was a need for some changes with communication and cooperation within the community and other law enforcement offices. With the support of his wife Audrey, he ran for Clayton County Sheriff in 2009 and won. 

“I did not become sheriff for any fame, accolades or pat on the back. I guess I envisioned some changes I felt were needed in the county. When there is more communication and better cooperation, you will solve and deter more crimes,” Tschirgi said. 

When he took over as sheriff, Tschirgi had a “page full” of envisioned changes. The last 16 years have included some good ideas that couldn’t be accomplished, but others were. There was always a focus on “getting our officers and public better informed and working together,” Tschirgi said. 

The importance of communication led Tschirgi to start a monthly newspaper article called “What’s New in County 22,” as a way to help the community know what the sheriff’s office was dealing with, as well as offering tips on safety. Topics covered driving safety on icy roads, fall travel safety when school is back in session and having patience on the road for farmers, communication during the Clayton County Fair between parents and children, spoofing, robocalls and scammers and acknowledging the work of dispatchers and jailers who Tschirgi called the “backbone” of the department. It was in one of these articles where he announced his retirement. 

Tschirgi is most proud of letting his employees go after what they were interested in and good at. As he saw it, all the officers, dispatchers and employees had interests, like working with computers, OWIs, investigations, jail processing. When people “love their work, they will enjoy their jobs and do a better job at it,” Tschirgi said. 

“I don’t know if you call what I did a success, because I’m just one person in a group of us, all working in harmony for the citizens of the county. I hope it will be recognized as a group success. My name is just at the top,” Tschirgi added.

The name at the top will change with the new year, as Tschirgi retires and a new sheriff fills the role, replacing an “old school” officer who believes in the endearing romanticism of Mayberry. A sheriff who was thanked for his “selfless sacrifices, unwavering commitment and invaluable dedication to the citizens of Clayton County.” 

Every piece of that sentence is exemplified by the fact that, over a year ago, Tschirgi could’ve stepped down after enduring triple bypass surgery on his heart. Instead, he chose to finish his term because that’s what the citizens of Clayton County elected him to do. It was selfless. It was unwavering. And it was invaluable dedication. 

As he heads for retirement, the mechanisms of law enforcement will continue, but Tschirgi, for the first time in 35 years, won’t be there. He has other plans for this chapter of his life, like spending more time with family and his seven grandkids, who will now be stopping by his house for a cup of coffee and a snack.