When Captain Michael Harroun was young, he remembers leaving school running to see his father's bright and shiny police car waiting for him. As he would proudly climb into the passenger seat he would often wonder if today would be a lucky day. On lucky days his father would let him turn on the siren as they drove home together.

He didn't plan on following in his father's footsteps until after he returned from serving an LDS mission in Holland, when he decided to major in law enforcement at BYU.

"What greater place to work than at BYU for the church," Harroun said of his 38 years in BYU's police department. Harroun just retired this semester.

Working and going to school at BYU since 1964, Harroun is well acquainted with trends on campus where the crime rate has actually decreased in recent years, said Harroun.

"When I started school here, virtually anyone could get into BYU," Harroun said. "Some parents would send their kids to BYU to reform them and more often than not they would just party."

The crime rate has decreased largely because BYU's admissions board has created a more selective application process. The advent of the ecclesiastical endorsement policy and an elevated minimum GPA generally keep out the rougher crowd, Harroun said.

However, Crime does continue on campus with about 95 percent of it categorized as theft, Harroun said.

A campus visitor once enlisted the help of students to steal a grand piano. According to Harroun, the thief backed his trailer into the parking lot of the Harris Fine Arts Center and asked students to help him put it in the trailer.

"He was so brazen about it that no one was suspicious," Harroun said. "We put a piece in the paper and eventually caught him."

Today, crime on campus is mostly caused by visitors than students, with about 65 percent of those being arrested. , Harroun said.

"People come on campus because there are a lot of things to steal," Harroun said. "It's a very trusting environment and kids also leave things unattended."

Over the last 38 years, Harroun mentioned one constant on campus.

"In 38 years it has never been without construction," Harroun said.

"When I was going to school here I thought that some day they will stop construction and I can see what this place is really like."

Though he says he has loved working for BYU and the church, Harroun acknowledges the darker side of policing.

"Because we are in uniform, people forget that we have feelings and compassion," Harroun said. "It is a thankless job and you normally don't get at-a-boys or thank you's."

Though students aren't always the first to thank police officer, some feel that they should do more.

"I think many people forget that BYU is a safe campus because of BYU police," said BYU alumnus Steve Stakland.

Beyond a lack of appreciation, police officers may also find it difficult to socialize normally after work.

"It is the nature of job that you have to be suspicious of everyone's motives, otherwise you don't solve any crimes," Harroun said.

Job security is a benefit police officers enjoy because, no matter where you are, crime always exists, Harroun said.

"In this case crime pays for us," Harroun said.

Harroun recalled a time where this insight became very apparent to him. Police forces at other universities make many arrests for drunkenness during sports games. BYU has made arrests for drunkenness, but not at the same volume. Harroun recalled once watching a BYU Football game when he saw a suspicious character putting a pair of binoculars to his lips. When he went to investigate the situation, he discovered that the man had used a hollowed-out pair of binoculars to carry beer into the stadium.

"I honestly believe that anything can happen at BYU," said Monica McGhie, a senior from Taiwan majoring in advertising.

Harroun detailed a high point of working at BYU.

Former Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller came to visit BYU campus in 1974 to meet with LDS President Spencer W. Kimball. BYU Officials attempted to keep the meeting secret in order to avoid security issues, but some students caught wind of the event and gathered to see the figures arriving. Harroun remembers watching the students'reactions when the vice-president arrived. The students clapped a little and waited in anticipation for the visitor Harroun said they really came to see.

He also remembers watching Rockefellar's 's reaction to the students awe as the prophet finally arrived and they began singing "We Thank Thee oh God for a Prophet."

"I always get chocked up when I remember that story," Harroun said. "I wondered what the vice-president thought when he saw the students singing to this little man."

Harroun is enjoying his time off refinishing he and his wife's kitchen cabinets and designing his own furniture. He says he doesn't miss the office at all.

"I do a bit of Mr. Mom stuff," said Harroun of his life at home while he wife works. "The Crock Pot is the way to go."

Commenting on his culinary creations Harroun's wife said, "He baked my birthday cake all by himself and it turned out great. He is quite domesticated."