One of Mike Raasch’s earliest memories, is what ended up setting him on the path to become Windsor’s new police chief.
“I come from a unique background; I’m one of 12 kids, and I grew up in North Hollywood in a broken home, and we were on welfare my whole childhood … coming from a big family, we were poor and it was a struggle and so there was times when, for Christmas, we would get on a bus and go down to skid row. There was a restaurant that some LAPD officers owned and they would put on Christmas for less fortunate families,” he remembered. “We’d get on a transportation bus for inmates or prisoners and we’d go down.
“I remember going like three years in a row, one of them would dress up like Santa Claus and hand out gifts and so that was something I always remembered, that positive interaction with officers,” he continued. “It really piqued my interest, such a positive experience. I’d think ‘wow, these cops had families and took time out of their holiday to be with us instead of their own families.’ That was something.”
Not only did those Christmases spark Raasch’s interest in law enforcement, they also created a vision of community-oriented policing that he has worked hard to integrate into his own career with law enforcement.
Raasch said his involvement with sports, primarily football and baseball, kept him out of the trouble that plagued many in his neighborhood, and eventually brought him to Sonoma County, when he was recruited to play baseball as Sonoma State University.
Raasch majored in criminal justice, but at the time he graduated, he had a hard time getting a job, primarily because police departments were reluctant to hire people they had to pay to send to the police academy. An interviewer told him his best bet was to put himself through the academy, which he did while working two part-time jobs, and he finished in 11 months.
With the academy done, he was able to get a job with the Sausalito Police Department, and he was there six years before getting hired by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
“I think I’ve always had a knack for detective and investigative work, it’s something in my wheelhouse,” Raasch said. “I’m tenacious with following up on things and putting pieces of the puzzle together and figuring things out. I like getting resolution for victims, that is always rewarding.
During his 25 years with the SCSO, Raasch has moved around and held a lot of different jobs, including the in Community Oriented Policing & Problem Solving Unit; property crimes investigations detective; patrol lieutenant — watch commander; and cold case detective. He most recently oversaw both the Guerneville and Sonoma Valley Sheriff’s Office substations. In addition, Raasch held collateral assignments, which included managing the Field Training Officer Program, the Helicopter Unit, Crisis Intervention Training and the patrol vehicle fleet.
Raasch also served as a detective in Windsor, and while in west county he also worked on investigating the 2004 Jenner double homicide case in which two people camped on the beach were found shot to death.
After he transferred back out Windsor in 2019, he also undertook a master’s degree in law enforcement and public safety leadership.
“I’m not the smartest person in the world, especially in academics … (but I) really learned so much,” he said of the 20-month program. “It was one of the prouder things I’ve accomplished in my life. It’s something I always wanted to do, and doing it later in life I was more prepared but it was also harder, with family and kids and a job.”
Raasch’s life experiences — as a kid on welfare, a decorated police officer, a teammate and a family man — have all influenced the kind of chief he wants to be.
“I think it helps my character immensely (that I) didn’t grow up with silver spoon in mouth. I’m no better than anyone else,” he said. “I always treat people how I want to be treated, the golden rule. I think I’m more empathetic to people than other people who didn’t grow up like I did maybe? I can relate to things a little bit, my family was very dysfunctional — my brother is schizophrenic, my younger brother and sister are both drug addicts, one of my brothers came up and lived with me in 2007 after a long addiction to methamphetamine and I helped him get sober and he’s still sober to this day.”
All of these experiences are the backbone of his view of community policing, what it looks like and why it’s important.
“I keep saying all time I’m a big proponent of community policing and community engagement, mainly building partnerships with the community to solve problems and have a better working relationship with the community and law enforcement, “ he said. “I’ve done it my whole career, a big thing even when I first started … as a young cop in Sausalito, I was told it was really good about get out of the car and walk the downtown beat and get to know people. You can’t do (that) sitting in car all the time.”
Since Raasch started on May 12, the town has faced a few challenges, including the resignation of former mayor Dominic Foppoli and the subsequent ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct on his part, a growing issue with speeding, reckless driving and “side-show” activities in the town and the communities concerns over the Holiday Inn being utilized as housing for a population of homeless moved from a facility in west county.
Raasch says he’s had no involvement in the Foppoli investigation, other than that he’s aware it is ongoing. He also says he’s had no requests from the community to check up on the work of his predecessors in regard to the matter.
By contrast, he says he’s received the most comments, complaints and inquiries over the issues of speeding and reckless driving. “Traffic stuff is the biggest complaint I’ve gotten since I’ve been here, speeders and reckless driving. We’re addressing it as best we can,” he said.
As far as the homeless population residing at the Holiday Inn, he said his department has not received any complaints or seen any increase in issues or calls related to it.
“It seems like they run a pretty tight ship,” he said. “They have a curfew there. I don’t know what housing population is at the moment, and we’re going to meet with them — myself and town manager — once a month starting next month to do a check in. But, so far hasn’t been an issue. The community was very concerned and time will tell, but so far it’s been uneventful, which is a good thing.”
One challenge Raasch sees ahead for the department, besides the obvious challenges of budgeting post-pandemic and general pandemic recovery issues, is that three of his officers are set to transfer out in August. This is a normal state of events, since sheriff’s department careers can be harmed by staying in one place too long, according to Raasch, but he’s worked hard to bring in good officers to replace them. He’s made it a goal to add additional bilingual staff as well, both in the officer ranks and in the front office of the police department.
Raasch spends his time off going to the gym or otherwise burning off his excess energy from what he says is severe ADD. He and his wife were married in Windsor at the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in 1995 and they have twin, grown daughters who live in Southern California.
