LOCAL

Brege honored for years of service with Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department

Cheboygan Daily Tribune

Cheboygan County Sheriff Department Lt. Mike Brege (right) was honored Tuesday morning for his more than 34 years of service to the community as a police officer. He was presented with his certificate of retirement, as well as several other awards at the county commissioners meeting Tuesday morning by Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont (left).

Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department Lt. Mike Brege was honored Tuesday morning for his more than four decades of service as a law enforcement officer.

"It is my great honor today to recognize one of my fellow officer and friends, after 42 years of service in the law enforcement community, 34 years with our department," said Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont. "Today we say thank you and honor his service."

Brege started out with the sheriff's department 34 years ago as a deputy, and was one of Clarmont's training officers when Clarmont started with the department. Brege rose through the ranks with the department, from deputy, to sergeant, then to lieutenant to finish out his long career.

"Mike has the great honor of holding the highest medal, the medal of valor, for our department. I awarded that to him," said Clarmont. "Mike put his life on the line many times, but that time it was to the point where I thought we needed to recognize him."

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Tuesday morning, Brege was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal from the sheriff's department, along with his certificate of retirement and a shadowbox. The service medal and certificate of retirement was included in his shadowbox and was given to him for his devotion to the protection of citizens within the county for more than 30 years.

Lt. Mike Brege was also given the Distinguished Service Medal for his 34 years with the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department and more than 40 years overall as a police officer in the community. He officially retired April 9.

The shadowbox — given to all retiring members of the department — featured all of the ranks Brege had with the department, as well as his badge and the certificate.

During his time with the sheriff's department, Brege served as a member of the multi-county SWAT team — he was one of the first members of that team — as well as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer, a member of the dive team, a field training officer and a school resource officer. He also started the active shooter training for not only the sheriff's department, but also the local schools and other local law enforcement agencies.

His official retirement date from the sheriff's department was April 9.

"Mike, it's with great honor and sadness that I give this, because you beat me out the door," Clarmont joked. "Mike and I are the same age, we graduated the same year, he just started in law enforcement a lot earlier than I did."

Brege also received a certificate of appreciation from the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the residents of the county, thanking him for his many years of service.

"I do appreciate the privilege I've had to work for Cheboygan County for the last 34 years," said Brege.

Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners Chair John Wallace (left) presented Mike Brege (right) with a certificate of appreciation from all the county commissioners, on behalf of the citizens of the county, for his many years of service.

Brege said once you hit retirement, the time just starts to fly. He thanked his family for putting up with all the coming and going, sleepless nights and all the missed birthdays and holidays. He also thanked the sheriff's department, saying it's been an honor to work for them.

He spent 34 years with the sheriff's department, 42 years altogether as a police officer. He started out in Onaway, then went to the Presque Isle County Sheriff's Office, before coming to Cheboygan County. Since coming to the sheriff's department, Brege said he has had the privilege of being involved in so many aspects of law enforcement, including working with members of other local law enforcement agencies.

"But the main thing is the people I've been able to work with," he said. "Not just in my agency, from the time I got here."

Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont and Lt. Mike Brege have been friends for many years. Clarmont said it was his honor to be able to present Brege with the certificate of retirement, as well as his distinguished service medal.

Brege said one of the things Clarmont has always said is when you're a member of an organization like the sheriff's department, one of your main goals should be that you leave it better than you found it.

"I can tell you that the community of Cheboygan County should be very proud of the officers we have, both on the road and in our jail," he said. "They're top notch. I had opportunity to work with the fire departments too. We are so lucky in our community to have these agencies and the men and women that work there. So, my thanks to them, I've worked with all of them and they've helped me out."

Contact Features Writer Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.