They say everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame, but Ofc. Mike Stephens of the Lowell Police Department might wish he could give his back.
It was 2.5 years ago when Stephens came across a motorist who had stopped in the road for two opossums that were hit by a car. One animal was alive, the other dead. Stephens moved them off the roadway and encouraged the driver to do the same with his vehicle.
That may have been the end of it except that the motorist took to social media with a tale of Stephens swearing up a storm and drop-kicking an opossum to the side of the road.
As soon as he became aware of the firestorm brewing online, “I asked for the body cam video to be released,” Stephens shares.
That footage made it apparent that the situation was not as portrayed on social media, but the damage had been done. PETA was calling Stephens on the phone, and people from across the nation – who apparently read the social media post but did not see the video — were piling on accusations of animal cruelty.
Although a stressful situation, Stephens can laugh about it now. And while this may be Ofc. Stephens’s brief claim to internet fame – or infamy, as the case may be – it would be a mistake to assume that this represents the sum of his time as a member of the Lowell Police Department.
From Lowell Schools to Lowell Law Enforcement
Stephens might be a familiar face and name to Lowell residents who are 30-something. He attended Bushnell Elementary and Cherry Creek Elementary through the 4th grade.
Then, his family moved to Rockford, where he played rugby for four years at Rockford High School and graduated there as part of the Class of 2008. After high school, he went to Ferris State University where he played at the collegiate level and studied criminal justice.
“I didn’t always want to be a police officer,” Stephens says.
The idea of working in law enforcement crossed his mind as a child but didn’t seem realistic. Then, in middle school, his best friend’s dad was a member of the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
“I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Stephens remembers.
After graduating from FSU, he entered the police academy in 2013 and joined the Kent County Sheriff’s Park Unit in 2014. It was there that he ran into Lowell Police Chief Chris Hurst. A sergeant with LPD at that time, Hurst was working part-time in the parks unit as well. He encouraged Stephens to apply for a position in Lowell.
In February 2016, Stephens was hired for a part-time position with the Lowell Police Department. In 2019, he became a full-time officer. Today, he says, “I can’t imagine myself doing anything different.”
Never a Dull Day
When asked what he likes best about his job, Stephens points to the variety of cases. “You never know what call you’re going to get,” he says. “It keeps things interesting.”
Of course, what makes the work interesting also makes it challenging, according to Stephens. “You have to adjust to answer every single call,” he notes.
And those calls aren’t all opossums and speeding tickets. While many cases are relatively benign, police officers also witness some truly horrific situations and tragedies. For Stephens, being first on the scene of a particularly gruesome accident is a memory that will never leave him.
“People forget that we’re human too,” Stephens says. “I get scared too. I have emotions too.”
That fact can sometimes get lost in the midst of an emotional situation, and as the opossum case demonstrates, some people are quick to assume the worst of law enforcement personnel.
Still, Stephens says that those folks are relatively few and far between, noting: “99.9% of the community is awesome.”
He is thankful for the support of those residents, and we are thankful for him and the other officers at the Lowell Police Department who are willing to confront situations — from the uncomfortable to the unfathomable – as they work to keep the community a safe place for us all.
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