CARMEL – “A retirement well deserved,” is how Putnam County Undersheriff Michael Corrigan describes his pending journey into relaxation and travel once he officially hangs up his badge on December 31.
The 36-year career law enforcement professional who served not once but twice with the sheriff’s office along with a 10-year stint with the New Fairfield Police Department in Connecticut sat down last week to reflect on his many years of serving the public.
“This has been a great career despite its ups and downs. I am a people person and one of my most esteemed colleagues, Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson welcomes new recruits to his department by telling them ‘You’re badge is the ticket to the front row seat of the greatest show on earth!’ Sheriff Anderson is correct. There is no other job like this in the world. An officer may deal with a tragic death in the morning and the birth of a child in the afternoon. I can walk away knowing that I accomplished something special by making a difference in someone’s life. I’d like people to say, ‘Mike Corrigan did a good job. He was fair and honest’.”
Corrigan, who turns 57 next month, joked that this was his “third attempt at retirement but I plan to stick to my guns this time and smell the roses while spending time with my wife and two sons.”
Corrigan loves to travel and enjoys aviation. At one time he flew a small rented plane that conducted aerial searches for the sheriff’s department. In September 1997, Corrigan flew over Putnam Valley as a large marijuana field was detected which was later raided and eradicated. Corrigan remembered the Cessna 172 which in later years crashed in Connecticut killing its pilot.
Corrigan also recalled the many extraditions with which he was involved including an armored car robbery in Carmel on New Year’s Eve: “The investigation went on for months and involved visits to Alabama, Florida, Virginia as well as the Bronx. We got our culprits.”
Law enforcement has been in the undersheriff’s blood since a child. He became a member of the Sheriff’s Cadet Corps in 1976 and became a deputy in 1985 under former Sheriff George Grenier.
“Not only did I want to be a police officer but always wanted to be a member of the Putnam Sheriff’s Department. This is where my heart is and will always be,” said Corrigan.
In 2006, Corrigan retired from the sheriff’s office and joined the western Connecticut police department for a decade before Sheriff Robert Langley invited Corrigan to become his undersheriff in the new administration.
Corrigan said he was “extremely honored. The offer was an opportunity I couldn’t resist – not only to come back but to return in the capacity of undersheriff providing the sheriff with my knowledge and expertise allowing Bob to get off to a good start. I never thought the pinnacle of my career would come at a point and time when I believed my career had ended. The men and women of this department have always impressed me with their dedication and professionalism.”
Comparing yesteryear to today, Corrigan described members of the BCI as being “superlative. I was an investigator for 18 years. The talent found in our department today is extraordinary. Road patrol has taken on new visions as well. Equipment is top notch. Years ago, we shared a beeper and a cell phone. Today deputies are provided with the tools needed to make the job more efficient.”
Captain Kevin Cheverko is expected to succeed Undersheriff Corrigan on January 1, 2020.
