29 years: Pursuits, undercover work and an expertise in dog fighting

After spending almost 29 years in a career, most people have a few stories to tell. Lodi Police Lt. Virgil Monroe certainly has plenty of them, though he doesn't actually remember the first call he was sent to as a brand-new officer.

"It must not have been too exciting," he said with his typical dry sense of humor, which is given away by a wry smile.

"I do remember my first pursuit," Monroe added a few minutes later. "It started at Lower Sacramento Road; it was a stolen car. I'd been here two weeks. They bailed out in a corn field — you would know that corn field as Park West."

Since Monroe joined the police force on Sept. 15, 1980, corn fields have become housing developments and officers no longer have to go find a pay phone to call the police station, as cell phones are generally a required part of life.

After nearly three decades, Monroe signed off the police radio one more time Wednesday and took up the new status of "retired." (Just a few nights earlier, he was involved in one last vehicle pursuit.)

He's looking forward to going hunting and fishing in the mountains, where cell phone service isn't available. He carries a cell phone and glances at it when a text message arrives, but he doesn't reply to the messages. "There's something to be said about going to a place where cell phones don't work," he said.

Monroe, who is retiring at age 50, grew up in Lodi, then moved to Galt in sixth grade. His father was Lodi's "pound master," as the animal control officer was called back then, so Monroe got to know a number of Lodi police officers.

Lt. Virgil Monroe at a glance

Hometowns: Lodi, then Galt, where he graduated from high school.
Family: Wife of 25 years, Cheryl. Grown son just graduated from the Sacramento County Sheriff's academy. Daughter is in high school.
Various stints with Lodi police: Former SWAT team member, head of Hostage Negotiation Team, helped start the Special Investigations Unit, range master, undercover narcotics investigator, taught high school ROP class for the past seven years.

A classmate got involved in Lodi's police cadet program for teenagers, so Monroe also joined.

He graduated from Galt High School, went to San Joaquin Delta College for two years, then got a job as a paid cadet with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. When he turned 21 he was able to become a deputy, and he went to Modesto's police academy for 13 weeks — a program that now takes six months.

Monroe soon took a job in Lodi, where his first badge read "patrolman," since women were rarities in the field.

He'd been working in Lodi for two years when he got his first homicide case: He was working day shift when he was sent to Lodi Memorial Hospital, where an 18-month-old child was being treated for injuries from a beating. They told Monroe the child's odds weren't good, then transferred him to a children's hospital in Oakland.

The boy died, and Monroe arrested the child's step-father. The suspect was convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years to life and the case eventually faded into the background.

"Last year I got a notice that he had come up for parole. He truly had done the 25-to-life," Monroe said.

Other memorable cases in Monroe's career involve his time spent on the county's drug task force, where he often went undercover and bought drugs in order to find the suppliers. One time in the early 1990s he bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) of cocaine for $30,000 in Modesto — then busted the husband and wife who sold it to him.

The most interesting drug case Monroe recalled was the time suspected drug dealers rented a Learjet for $15,000 for a trip to Tennessee. They flew out of the Stockton airport, but left an assault rifle behind in their car, apparently deciding they didn't need it.

Drug sniffing dogs found evidence of illegal substances, so local officers notified law enforcement in Tennessee, who learned that the suspects were selling methamphetamine there. Monroe and others waited for the suspects to fly back to Stockton, but there was one thing they hadn't expected.

"We thought we were dealing with drug dealers, but they'd been fighting dogs in Tennessee," Monroe said.

The case grew, and investigators found 56 fighting dogs on a suspect's Tuolumne County property. They uncovered treadmills used to strengthen the dogs, and evidence that some were killed.

Monroe spent so much time on it, and working with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, that he became qualified as an expert on dog fighting. He ultimately testified in court about his knowledge, and saw the suspects go off to prison.

Back in Lodi, another memorable case for Monroe was the time a cross was burned at Tokay High School. Monroe was a sergeant then, leading the investigation. He recalls finding the place where the suspects had built the cross, and even being able to match pieces of wood that had been cut.

Around the same time, someone began spreading KKK fliers all over town, putting them in newspapers that had already been delivered.

Monroe did what he called "old-fashioned police work," going to various copy businesses and talking to countless people until he tracked down the man responsible. Monroe had a talk with the man, who was beginning to question his own reasons. He agreed not to spread any more fliers around town.

Monroe was recently working at a traffic enforcement operation when that man stopped and said hello. The fliers had never returned.

That blunt, straight-forward method of communication got Monroe through 29 years on Lodi's police force, ultimately promoting him to lieutenant. For years he has headed the department's hostage negotiation team, which is called out for suicidal as well as homicidal people.

And he's still not quite done yet.

Monroe plans to return as a reserve officer, likely patrolling by bicycle in Downtown Lodi. He won't be paid, but he doesn't seem to mind.

"I enjoy law enforcement. I've thoroughly enjoyed my career," he said. "To give back to my community would be great."

Reader Feedback

Half Full wrote on May 28, 2009 9:00 PM:

" Virgil, thanks for your dedicated service to our wonderful city. Enjoy your "retirement," and spend more time with your family. "

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