Retiring Chief Honored
July 29, 1975
Mike Elerick, who has been Susanville’s Police Chief since Feb. 1, 1967, was honored with a retirement dinner on Monday, July 21, in the Pyrenees Room of the St. Francis Hotel. More than 80 persons attended the dinner after which Elerick was presented with a plaque of appreciation by Susanville Mayor Dan Sanchez on behalf of the City Council.
Chief Elerick was presented with the Chief of Police Badge by his department and received a silver western-type belt buckle as a gift from various friends in attendance at the dinner.
Elerick is retiring effective July 31, after 22 years in law enforcement, including 15 years with the Susanville Police Department.
Mike was born in 1919 at Pocatello, Idaho. In high school he participated in rodeos riding bare-back broncos and bulls. Elerick’s father raised race horses and Mike was a jockey from about 13 years old until he was 16. He eventually gave that up because of his weight.
Mike’s family moved to California where he graduated from Red Bluff High School in 1936. From 1936 to 1940 Elerick worked in the gold dredging business around Trinity County and in the Oroville area. From 1940-41 he worked on Shasta Dam. Elerick was involved in the construction trade from 1941 through 1953 all around the Western United States including Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Mike also worked in the Bay Area shipyards operating cranes from the outbreak of the war to its end.
Elerick was introduced to law enforcement when he worked for the Lassen County Sheriff’s Department as a night dispatcher in 1953 and 1954 while attending Lassen Junior College. In 1955 he began as a patrolman in the Susanville Police Department and was Asst. Chief when he left in 1961. From 1961 through early 1967, Mike was Undersheriff in Inyo County. He returned to the Susanville Police Department as its chief on Feb. 1, 1967.
Elerick told The Advocate that his immediate plans include helping his wife, Billie, with the guided living facility for developmentally disabled adults in Susanville. Billie has about 34 developmentally disabled persons under her jurisdiction. The Elericks were married in Sparks, Nev., on Sept. 20, 1941.
Mike’s hobbies include cabinet making and gunsmithing.
Elerick said that in his 22 years of law enforcement, he never had to point his revolver.
Pictured above from left are Chief Elerick, his wife, Billie, Mayor Dan Sanchez and his wife, Lois. (Schullo photo).
