By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

Officer Michael Wittenberg, a 28 ½ year veteran of the Pontiac Police, is set to retire August 11.

Pontiac Police Chief Jim Woolford worked alongside Wittenberg for many of those years and remembers many of his attributes.

“Mike was in the military prior to coming to the police department and me as well. Coming out of the military to the police department, I recognized that right away. You can tell other people with military bearing.  I remember Mike had been on five or six years when I started. One of the biggest things I took from him was he had an uncanny ability to stay calm no matter what the circumstance was and never got overly excited about anything. When interviewing suspects, he never gave away his hand. I always have remembered that from Mike throughout my career. I try to emulate something from everyone and that’s what I got from him,” Woolford said.

Pontiac Police Major Dan Davis shared some insight to Wittenberg’s career.

“Just some of the highlights from his tenure here, he was one of the earlier members of the Livingston County Proactive Unit. He was also our Officer of the Year for 2014. Probably, what he may be remembered most for is he’s been our high school resource officer for the past five years. Mike’s really our go-to guy. He interacts well with the students and teachers and he was really a great fit at the high school and I know he’s going to be missed by the faculty there and he was a great liaison position for us with the school,” Davis said.

Wittenberg said he has many memories of his time with the Pontiac Police, including the following:

“A teacher told me one of her students wanted to be like me when he grew up. If that’s the life I’m meant to touch, to become a police officer, that’s awesome. Other things I remember vividly was entering a burning building looking for victims. Stuff you’ll never forget. I have some good memories of the police department, and no one can take them away from me. It’s awesome,” Wittenberg said.