Blessed Career

Michael Wanta

Michael Wanta
Detective, Green Bay (WI) Police Department


I was able to complete a personally truly satisfying 28-year career at the Green Bay Police Department. During those years, I elected not to go into any supervisory positions and instead chose to catch bad guys my entire career. With the love and support of my wife and family, I was able to pick and choose opportunities that let me be the kind of police officer that I wanted to be.

I started the first 10 years by working in the dark on the night shift patrol and power shift patrol. After that, I was able to go back and forth among jobs that I enjoyed, doing two tours as a community police officer and two tours as a narcotics investigator. Being a narcotics officer was the most fulfilling job I had. It was truly a ‘seek and destroy’ job, with real consequences for the people who brought so much destruction to the city. I also worked for a year as the range master, where I enjoyed developing and implementing training for our officers. It was a good fit for me, as I was also a unified tactical instructor teaching at the local technical college and doing training for the swat team. Ultimately, being an investigator called me back and I finished my last 7 years as a detective. Things seemed to come full circle, as I got to work again with some of my good friends that I started with back on the night shift.

I kept all of these jobs interesting by working on foot, in squads, on bikes, on motorcycles, on boats, in tactical vehicles and undercover. Along the way, I enjoyed 17 years on the SWAT team, rising to the position of assistant team leader. I also thoroughly enjoyed working on the Marine Unit, where I was also an assistant team leader. Add in working approximately 250 Green Bay Packer football games, and you have a very full career. It all passed in the blink of an eye. In retirement, you start to forget about the bad times, and instead try to remember the good times and all the satisfaction the job gave to you. It was truly a blessed career.

Stay Safe!

Mike Wanta
Retired, Green Bay PD
Green Bay, WI

Search Stories by Last Name, Story Title, Keyword