INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. — Former Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth is sharing five decades of law enforcement stories in his new book "50 Years of Duty."
- Former Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth wrote "50 Years of Duty" about his law enforcement career spanning 1966 to retirement.
- His career included intense situations like sniper incidents and the difficult task of notifying families of officer deaths.
- Book signing scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. at Bestsellers in Mason.
Wriggelsworth began his career in law enforcement in 1966, serving with the state police and metro squad before becoming sheriff of Ingham County. After retiring from a half-century of service, he's now trading his patrol car for a pen and paper.
WATCH BELOW: From patrol car to pen: Former Ingham County Sheriff writes "50 Years of Duty"
"The rest is history," Wriggelsworth said.
The veteran officer says memories from his time in the field remain vivid, including some of the most intense moments of his career.
"I got pictures here I can show you, we had a tank come in, a sniper, and shot the house up. Stuff like that that you don't see every day, it's just burned in my mind," Wriggelsworth said while looking through photographs.
He acknowledges that the most difficult aspects of the job also stay with him.
"It's very hard. To look at someone in the eyes and say your husband is not coming home tonight," Wriggelsworth said.
Throughout his career protecting neighbors day in and day out, Wriggelsworth raised three boys with his wife, Sandy. The stories from his work made an impression on his family.
"When you sit around the dinner table telling war stories like I'm telling you, it gets in their blood," Wriggelsworth said.
In retirement, Wriggelsworth is turning his experiences and lessons learned into "50 Years of Duty," hoping to help the next generation of law enforcement officers. His wife Sandy explained his primary motivation for writing the book.
"He wanted to do it specifically for our family," Sandy said.
Wriggelsworth will hold a book signing Friday at Bestsellers in Mason at 3 p.m.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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