Etter ends 32 years with Trotwood police

By Doug Page | Thursday, May 1, 2008, 09:45 AM

TROTWOOD — Last year was tough for the police department, but not the reason Public Safety Director Mike Etter left last week.

“It’s a chance for me to continue to do what I love, law enforcement,” Etter said about his departure from the department where he has served for 32 years. He began this week as the Dayton International Airport police chief.

Several years ago, Etter opted to enroll in a deferred retirement program, which allowed him to work and continue to accrue retirement benefits. That program, however, required him to retire at a set time.

Etter had about three years left, when the offer came from the airport, which has a different pension.

“I get to keep doing what I love,” he said.

That love was tested last year. Two off-duty Trotwood officers were shot — one fatally — in separate domestic incidents. Officers also were involved in two controversial tasings.

Both the SCLC and the NAACP have praised the department for its investigation of the incidents.

What Etter wants people to know is his appreciation of the opportunities he has been given and “the fantastic people I worked with.”

He became a patrol officer in 1978 and chief in 1993.

The case that has stuck with Etter was the death of 2-year-old Erick Nobles while Etter was interim police chief. The boy’s mother drowned the child the day after Christmas 1992 in their Dayton home. Two weeks later, she showed up at the Salem Mall, clutching the boy’s jacket and claiming he had been abducted.

“I got the phone call at home,” Etter recalled. “The whole community was looking for the child. Everyone rallied around the family.”

Police had their suspicions but it was still hard when those suspicions were confirmed. “That innocent life lost. It was hard,” Etter said.

The mother was later found guilty of murder and is serving a 15-year to life sentence.

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