When Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey started in law enforcement, officers didn’t have computers, body cameras, bullet proof vests, or cell phones. When deputies needed backup, they sometimes had to use a pay phone to call dispatch. Though a lot has changed in Sheriff Bailey’s 40 years of service, what hasn’t changed is his mission.
“Working at the sheriff’s office, working at St. Joseph Township trying to make a difference helping people,” Bailey said. “That’s what I wanted to do as a law enforcement officer, to be out there helping people, to solve crimes, to make it safer in our neighborhoods.”
And Berrien County is relatively safe. Violent and property crime rates are lower in the county than state and national averages. According to the FBI’s crime data, Berrien County’s violent crime rate is roughly half the national average, and a quarter of Michigan’s overall. So why retire now? Sheriff Bailey says it’s time.
“I’m 67 now, and I said it’s time to go enjoy family more and do a little bit of travelling and do other hobbies that I haven’t done since I’ve been sheriff before I get too old to do it.”
Bailey will serve out the remainder of 2023, but he’s stepping down a year before his term is up. He’s recommending to the Berrien County Commission that Undersheriff Chuck Heit take his place in the interim before the next election. 40 years of service, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of law enforcement, and a legacy that will be hard to replicate. But the sheriff will be the first to tell you he didn’t do it, it was the people around him. Bailey will leave office at the end of 2023.
