Despite a full docket and the Bank of America/Merrill Gardens appeal to wade through at their May 6 meeting, Kirkland City Council paused to honor a long-serving veteran of the police department.

Introduced by Kirkland City Manager David Ramsay as “One of Kirkland’s real characters” and by Kirkland Police Chief Eric Olsen as “a true professional,” the city recognized Lieutenant Mike Ursino with a service award for his 25 years with the Kirkland Police Department.

As one of two Operations Lieutenants, Ursino oversees patrol and traffic squads, the city’s Special Response Team, parking enforcement and is also a member of the department’s charity golf team, which raises money for the Special Olympics. Ursino’s leadership of the city’s DUI enforcement efforts have been well publicized in the Kirkland Reporter and other newspapers throughout the Puget Sound. He’s also attracted nearly $200,000 in law enforcement grant money to fund local police efforts.

Now proudly adorning a wall in his small office, Ursino sat down with the Kirkland Reporter to reflect on the honor and get a better sense of Kirkland’s public safety efforts.

Q. Where did you start working as a police officer?

A. First I was a reserve officer in Carnation in 1979. Then I worked for two years with Clyde Hill Police … In 1983 I came to Kirkland.

Q. How old are you?

A. I’m 51 years old. I’ve got at least five more years here before I retire … After that, maybe I’ll open up a golf school or a golf shop … something like that. I’ve got a couple of irons in the fire … I love to travel, too, with my wife. I’ve been to Italy several times, traveling around Europe. Switzerland, Germany, Austria … I love that whole atmosphere of Europe. Traveling is a passion of mine.

Q. Do you enjoy what you do?

A. I love this job. I get up in the morning and I still get excited coming in for work … The only time I’m not so happy to come in for work is if I’ve screwed something up the night before. Then I’m going to hear about it. They let you know if you make a mistake.

Q. How often does that happen, making mistakes?

A. I work hard at not making mistakes … I’ve never had a letter of reprimand, not one, in my 25 years here. The guys who are successful work hard at this level at not making mistakes … When I go into a situation, I already know what I’m going to do, I’ve got the narrative in my head.

Q. Where are you from, originally?

A. Beacon Hill in Seattle … I’ve got seven brothers and sisters. All the stereotypes, yes, both my parents are full-blood Italians. When we would all get around the table for dinner it’s quite a sight. They have this house right on the ridge line with these great views … We lived near the Jefferson Park Golf Course. Fred Couples and I used to sneak around and play golf back there.

Q. Fred Couples, as in PGA Pro Golfer Fred Couples?

A. Yes, that’s right. The difference with him was, he knew back then that he wanted to be a pro golfer. It was a $1.75 to get on (the course) back then. That was when we didn’t sneak on. Beacon Hill was full of Italian kids, some Germans kids, some English kids, mostly Catholic. It was a great place to grow up in. Fred and I and some of the other kids, we all went to the same parochial school, O’Dea in Seattle.

Q. How long have you lived here in Kirkland?

A. 14 years.

Q. A large number of the Kirkland Police don’t live locally but you do. What is it like as a police officer living in the same city you work?

A. Well, there’s a few others that live here … I’ve been approached before, on the street, someone recognized me and said ‘Hey, you gave me a ticket!’ … The only thing I say is, ‘Was I nice, was I fair?’ It doesn’t matter who you are, if you treat everybody with respect you’ll get respect back.

Q. How dangerous is your job?

A. If somebody’s in danger and I can do something about it, I’m gonna act. That’s the mind-set of a cop. To put yourself in jeopardy happens all the time and you have the training to do that … We’re not assassins, we’re there to save lives … So when you’re in a situation where your weapon is drawn, you try to reason with someone, you try to give them a choice … That’s what I’ve said when I was in a situation like this. “Don’t make me shoot you.” Fortunately, they’ve backed down every time. Shooting someone is not something a cop wants to do.

Q. Have you ever shot someone?

A. With non-lethal (rubber-plastic) bullets. But make no mistake about it, if you’re running away from me and you’re still a threat I’m going to shoot to kill. We don’t shoot to wound … Cops are trained to go to the threat, to stop the threat. That’s what we do.

Q. Those are nice sunglasses. Are they Ray-Bans?

A. Yes. These are my “throw-down” Ray-Bans.

Q. How many pairs of sunglasses do you have?

A. Nine or 10 pairs. All for different reasons.

Q. When did you decide on this line of work?

A. I’ve always known I wanted to be a cop. Instead of wasting mom and dad’s money at a big school or a four year degree I did the basics (an associate degree from Bellevue Community College). I knew it in high school. I was a reservist when I was 21 years old.

Q. What’s changed the most since you began working as a police officer?

A. Oh, the technology, bar none. That’s definitely the biggest change. You can write your report in the car and send it wireless to the station in a few moments. Everyone’s on the same page. Mapping technology is a huge help … It used to be when you left your patrol car, you left your radio behind. I mean, you were out there on your own … Also, the level of accountability has really changed. Public servants are now much more accountable than they were in the 70s and 80s … The internal accounting, such as whenever you pull out your night stick, gun, or put someone in a hold, you have to fill out a use of force report. Those didn’t exist in the early days. We can account for how many times our officers responded in that way and why.

Q. What do you like about Kirkland?

A. The commute. I drive 2 1/2 miles to work, so I really don’t have much of one … I love Kirkland because it’s convenient to just about everything you can think of. I like going running along Lake Washington Boulevard. I like all the special festival events in town. I like taking my wife out to the restaurants downtown. And I’m loving the property values. Do I love the quaint smallness of the downtown? Eh, I could give a rip. I do love the fact that you can walk around downtown, sort of like in Europe. I love the old Kirkland, like the old Bellevue, where it was older, smaller, and everyone knew each other and were friends … I love that old world quaintness.

Q. What’s your favorite Kirkland experience?

A. When the city holds it’s classic car show. We close the streets off in the downtown, pedestrians only just like in Europe. Everybody gathers down there, it’s a very cool feeling and it gives Kirkland that “Smalltown, USA” feel. There’s something like 10,000 people that gather around for that, it’s usually a great crowd.

Q. What’s one of your least favorite Kirkland moments?

A. Back when we had the “Old Moss Bay Days” in the early 80s here in downtown … It was a festival we had every year and each one of the 17 bars had something going on. People would come from all over and enjoy themselves and have some drinks. It was fine during the day, but at night people got nutso. So the Council finally said “no more”. In it’s place, they’ve brought in a lot of other, more mature events for the city. Now we have the the triathalon, the half-marathon … people are walking the streets and they’ve closed off the area for people only … I love that old town feeling that you get from that. I mean, old to us is 200 years or so. Old in Italy, like in one of these Northern Italian towns … I’m looking at an old building or a church and it was built in 700 or 800 A.D.

Q. You’ve worked with the Kirkland Police Department for 25 years. What has kept you here so long?

A. Well, I’ve been through 5 chiefs and one interim chief. They’ve all had their strengths, but I worked with Chief Olsen back in the traffic squad. I get him, we get him. He’s not coming from the outside, we know what he’s about. I love the fact that I can just walk down the hall here and the door is always open to his office … I mean, you know you’ve arrived, right? When you can just walk in and shoot the bull with them. You know, there are 6 of us now with 25 years or more. Part of that just shows what kind of police department that we work with. The city, staff are really friendly. You know who the city manager is, the mayor, council members. They know you by your first name … Everybody in the city is approachable. I’m proud to work for the KPD. We’ve got a good name out there.