Canadian County sheriff retires after 57 years in law enforcement - KOCO Oklahoma City

Lt. Mike Grimes put down the badge and retired in December.

CANADIAN COUNTY, Okla. —

A Canadian County sheriff retired after 57 years in law enforcement.

Lt. Mike Grimes put down the badge and retired in December. He made several attempts to retire, but saying his final goodbye was harder than he thought.

"When I hit the magic age of 80, I decided it's probably time to wind down a little bit. It's hard to put the badge up. It really is," Grimes said.

He started his career back in 1964 as a Yukon police officer. He said that law enforcement was in his blood.

"I grew up in law enforcement. My dad was a state trooper," Grimes said.

He and his twin brother followed in their dad’s footsteps.

"My dad was proud of what we did and what we were doing," Grimes said.

Unfortunately, Lt. Grimes learned the dangers of putting your life on the line when his brother was killed.

"He was a lieutenant on the patrol and he got killed in 1978 when we lost three troopers. He was killed in a gunfight. That heightened my desire to do the best and continue that image," he said.

He would continue to help families like his grieve and heal from loss, even winning the National Suzy Sawyer Award.

"That's an honor to get to do that and to help those families and I was very complimented by the fact I was receiving that award," Grimes said.

After 33 years as a state trooper, then working for the Department of Agriculture and the Canadian County Sheriff’s Department, he was inducted into Oklahoma’s Law Enforcement Hall of Fame. He met every sitting president during his time.

"I got a picture of me and President Bush up on the wall. How many people get to say they did that?" he said.

Grimes said that there is a lot to be proud of, but it all comes down to the people he has helped along the way.

"That's the amazing thing about this job. Every day, I look forward to going to work. In 57 years, there's never been a day and some of those are long nights where you come out the next morning and sometimes you don't ever go to sleep, but there's never been a day I didn't look forward to doing it," Grimes said.

He will continue working with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office, but in a non-law enforcement, part-time basis. He will manage the aviation unit and special projects.

source: https://www.koco.com/article/canadian-county-sheriff-retires-57-years-law-enforcement/38679929

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