November 2002 Volume 83 Number 1 "serving the protectors"
US police visitor stunned
By Brett Williams

The sight of an SA police inspector issuing a warrant shocked US cop, Mike Burg, when he visited Adelaide last month. He explained to the Police Journal how, in America, only judges could issue police officers with warrants to search premises.

Officer Burg was equally gob-smacked when a detective showed him his general search warrant. But did he think this tool of the police trade might ever emerge in the US? “That would just never, ever happen,” he said.

In Adelaide to visit friend and SA policeman, Senior Constable Paul Noble, Officer Burg found few other differences between the US and Australian justice systems. He thought the two countries’ courts operated similarly, and noted that the American Miranda rights had an equivalent in the Australian caution.

Officer Burg has worked for the Rittman Police Department in rural north-east Ohio for 25 years. With 21 officers, his department covers an area of 12 sq miles and serves a population of 8,000.

“On the west end of town we have some very expensive homes and nice residential areas,” he said. “On the east end of town we have two big factories and a few small ones. Then we have the commercial district and the farmland. It (Rittman) is a little bit of everything.”

In addition to patrol work, Officer Burg runs his department’s eight-man SWAT team and supervises firearms training. He served as a sergeant on second (afternoon) shift for 10 years but sought a move to day shift to win more time with his family.

With no sergeant positions available on the earlier shift, he gave up his rank and reverted to patrolman status in 1999.

Born and raised in the nearby town of Wadsworth, Officer Burg originally served five years in a non-sworn role with the neighbouring Norton Police Department. He said he had joined as an 18-year-old to avoid what he suspected would be the monotony of a factory job.

Today, in Rittman, Officer Burg and his colleagues most often face alcohol-related offences – such as DUI – and domestic violence. His closest call on patrol came in the early 1990s. On the orders of a judge, he went with his partner to photograph a residential yard so junk-laden that it had breached a city ordinance.

The owner of the property, a man in his 50s, threatened Officer Burg with a loaded shotgun. “He fired a round in the back of his house, and then came around and pointed the gun at us,” Officer Burg said.

“We were maybe 20 feet apart and I had my gun on him, but my eyes were on the muzzle of the shotgun. If the muzzle started coming towards me, it was over.

“I was prepared to shoot, and I knew the shotgun was operative because I’d just heard him fire a round. And, when he was holding it, he had live shotgun rounds between a couple of his fingers. I figured if I had to do it, it would be a clean shoot.”

Fortunately, Officer Burg talked the man into surrender and no one was injured.

Through his career, he has won his department’s Officer of the Year award four times and SWAT Officer of the Year twice.

During a week in Adelaide, he toured Fort Largs, the Communications Centre, the STAR Group base at Netley and the Police Association.

But, with his wife, Ellen, Officer Burg had most wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef. “We did some snorkelling, and I did a little diving up there,” he said. “It was more than I expected. It was beautiful.”

Officer Burg said he had left his Rittman colleagues somewhat envious of him as he left for Australia. “It’s a long flight from California,” he said. “But I think because it’s so far away, and a long haul, we like to see what’s down here, the differences.”

He had few problems with Australian slang but did not know if the term “Aussie” was offensive Downunder. His host, Paul Noble, assured him it was safe to use.

Driving on the left side of the road was the only aspect of Australian life Officer Burg said he would “find hard”. He quipped: “I don’t have any problem getting in on that (left) side of the car, but the steering wheel’s gone.”

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