GOSHEN —
After 30 years with the department, one Goshen police officer is ready to take it easy.
Mike McCloughen, who most recently served as assistant chief in charge of administration, is retiring effective Sept. 23, ending a career that began all the way back in 1977. The then-15-year-old McCloughen was one of the original members of the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Cadets.
“It was basically an Explorer group,” he said. “We had biweekly meetings, and at every meeting we had some sort of training, like handcuffing or reporting.”
The group was allowed to work at the jail, booking inmates, and also worked security at Concord Mall.
Along with McCloughen, other members ended up becoming police officers for Goshen, Elkhart County and Fort Wayne, as well as a community in Florida. In an added twist of fate, the group was formed by Dick Bowman, an Elkhart County sheriff, whose daughter McCloughen would end up marrying several years after his death.
For McCloughen, law enforcement was a field that had always interested him.
“I’d wanted to do it ever since I was 12 or 13 years old,” he said. “It just seemed like a job I’d enjoy, and I have.”
When he finally joined the Goshen Police Department, McCloughen was still in high school. Then-Chief DeVoe Stoner hired him May 2, 1980, one month before he graduated. He started as a dispatcher and reserve officer before moving through the ranks and serving as a patrol officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and detective before taking the position of assistant chief.
He said the job has changed significantly throughout the years, comparing law enforcement in 1980 to that in 2010 as “night and day.” He gave the example of churches, noting they never locked their doors in 1980, until a string of church burglaries led to their doors being closed and locked at night. He also said violent crimes and drug cases were much more minimal.
“Now, with drug activity so high, you see so many more violent crimes, like shootings and stabbings,” McCloughen said. “I do believe it’s not just Goshen. I think you could pick any town in any state and they’d say the same thing. It’s more dangerous to live in 2010 that it was in 1980.”
Another major difference he noted is the public perception of police officers.
“People forget police officers are human beings, police officers still make mistakes,” McCloughen said. “In this day and age, there seems to be so much pressure to do it perfect.”
After his departure from the police department there will still be a McCloughen on the GPD roster, as his son Nick has been an officer there for a little more than three years.
“It was kind of bittersweet, because I knew the work was getting much more difficult, but I was proud because he wanted to follow in the profession,” McCloughen said.
Nick and his wife Sarah recently gave him something else to be proud of, a brand new grandson — Kolton Robert McCloughen — born a month ago Friday.
As for his future plans, McCloughen is looking forward to spending his time fishing, golfing and riding his motorcycle as well as continuing to referee for the Goshen Junior Football League. He has refereed for five years, and coached for eight years prior to that. McCloughen also volunteers as a facilitator for Ryan’s Place, working with grieving teens. He lost his first son in an automobile accident in 2005, and uses that experience to help children in similar situations.
He said he may go back to work if the right job comes along, but would rather see someone who really needs a job get one first.
“Right now I’m a professional housewife,” McCloughen said.
He said he and his wife Rebecca — who are celebrating their nine-year wedding anniversary this month — have no plans to move. McCloughen said he has lived in Goshen his whole life and plans on staying here.
“I still believe, even though things have changed, to me it’s always been a privilege to serve the community of Goshen,” McCloughen said. “People are very fortunate to live here, and overall we have a very fine place to live and raise our kids. I think that made it easier to do the job.”
Retirement party
- Friday, Sept. 17
- Boscos Place, 117 S. Fifth St.
- 4 to 7 p.m.
- Open to the public
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