Longest-serving Edina Officer Mike Lutz Retires

“The law enforcement community is the largest and best fraternity in the world,” detective Mike Lutz says. He ought to know; he has worked on the Edina Police department for 40 years, making him the longest-serving officer in the town’s history. By comparison, Sergeant Kevin Rofidal has been with the Edina Police Department for 16 years and is the self-professed department historian. “I dig out the more memorable cases to try to capture and preserve old stories,” Rofidal says. “Almost every major case has Mike Lutz’s name on it.” We caught up with Lutz to learn a bit about his storied career. Edina Magazine: July will be the end of your 40th year on the job. What do you plan to do when you retire? Lutz: My wife and I plan to take a trip to Ireland for three weeks. We both have Irish ancestry. I’ll also play a lot of golf. It’s my favorite pastime. Maybe I’ll get a part-time job—I’d enjoy working at a golf course as a starter or ranger. You have carved out your place as an accomplished investigator, specializing in child abuse and sexual assault cases. How and why did that come about?   The opportunity to test for detective came up in 1987 and there were two positions open—one specific to commercial-type crimes and the other specific to domestic or street crimes. The chief at the time wanted someone with a college degree to take the family and street-crime position. I would have chosen that slot anyway—I would much rather deal with people than with numbers. Department historian Sergeant Ken Rofidal noted that most every major case has your name on it. To what do you attribute your success in solving crimes? When you look at a case, it’s important you don’t focus on one thing, keep an open mind and follow where the evidence takes you. You can’t go in with a predetermined idea as to what happened. You also gotta dig. Can you tell us about one of your more memorable cases? I had one case involving a woman who took off with her two children. I did a lot of fact-finding and learned she had left the state, so I requested the help of the FBI. Months went by until we got a lead from a witness. The woman was found in Washington state. Apparently there is an underground network for families on the run. The kids were reunited with their father and they sent me Christmas cards for a few years.  Were there any cases that particularly frustrated you? In 2008 a woman pulled into her York Avenue apartment complex and was confronted by two adult males who robbed her, beat her and locked her in the trunk of her car. They told her if she called the police they’d come back and kill her. She got out of the trunk by taking out the back seat and called us. Everyone in the division did a lot of work on that case and I had a significant idea of who it was but I can’t prove it. I actually interviewed the person that I think did it. I talk to [the woman who was attacked] every so often and I wish I had some closure for her. How do you approach a victim to make them feel safe? Remain calm and convey to them that you’re there to help them. Be honest with them. I won’t say I understand how they feel because I surely haven’t been through [what they have]. One of most important things is to give the victim as much control as possible, to give back the control that they had taken away. If they want to do the interview at home rather than at the station, do that. Do you work with other police departments when solving cases? The cooperation among agencies in the law enforcement field is very good. In one case, some kids were abused in a summer camp in Bemidji but the person got out of the country before we could arrest him. We worked through the U.S. attorney’s office and he is now in jail in France. What is the most important thing about your job? It’s to keep in mind who we work for—the public. That’s why we’re called public servants.