MADISON — “I think we all have seminal people in our lives who transcend mentorship,” he told me, as he sipped a Diet Coke. “They sort of draw you in because they not only talk the talk, but they walk the walk.”
For former Madison Police Chief Mike Koval, that person was his Uncle Sean Riley.
Recently, I sat down with Koval to hear stories of his service, to get his take on the portrayal of police in today’s media, and to learn how his Catholic faith played a role in his many years of service to the Madison Police Department.
The story begins
These days, Koval is enjoying retirement. He lives near Madison with his wife of 36 years, Jane.
His story, however, begins long ago. His story begins with his Uncle Sean Riley.
Riley was a Madison police officer beginning back in the late 1960s.
Koval, from a young age, looked up to his uncle. Koval earned a degree from UW-Madison in journalism, but all along, he hoped to follow in Riley’s footsteps, both as a police officer and as a man of strong character and honor.
“[Riley] was a devoted, devout Catholic. He really lived it. I saw his faith in the way he interacted with his wife, the way he raised his kids, and the way his colleagues would pull me aside and say, ‘Oh my gosh, your uncle is something special.'”
When Koval told his uncle that he wanted to be a police officer, Riley attempted to steer him in a different direction and encouraged him instead to look into service with the FBI.
Koval took his uncle’s advice, and then the advice of an FBI recruiter; if Koval wanted to enhance his chances of joining the Bureau, he should first attend law school.
He decided on the part-time law program at UW so he could work full time during school.
He first worked as a law clerk for a judge, and then, to gain experience in law enforcement, he took a job as a police officer for the city of Madison.
After Koval polished off his Diet Coke and asked the waiter for a refill, he told me that the habit began nearly 40 years ago, when he was a first-year police officer working the night shift in downtown Madison.
He patrolled State St. and Logan from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. After his shift, he’d head to the law building at UW to earn his Juris doctorate, and all the while, Diet Coke fueled him.
Attending law school was a means to an end, and the recruiter was right.
Twelve weeks after graduating from law school, he was in Quantico, training to become an FBI agent. He enjoyed his time in the FBI, but he didn’t last long.
“The hook that got me into the Bureau is the hook that chased me out,” he told me. He thought he’d be an agent on the streets, and instead, he was looking at a decade in legal affairs before he’d have the opportunity to transfer.
“I wanted to be on the street. If I’d never experienced being a street cop — I was a street cop for two years prior to the FBI — maybe legal affairs would have been fine. But I love the day-to-day interactions and the building of relationships with people, particularly vulnerable people.”
He returned to the Madison P.D. in 1988, and never looked back. He served in various capacities over the years, including serving as an officer, a SWAT hostage negotiator, and the department recruiter for 18 years before being promoted to serve as the chief of police — a position he held from 2014 to 2019.
Catholic faith central to his life
Born and raised Catholic, Koval’s faith is central in his life, and it played an enormous role in his service as a police officer. Throughout our discussion, and especially as we discussed his time in blue, he was quick to quote Scripture and saints.
Each day began and ended with prayer then, as it continues to now, for Koval. He told me that the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and frequent reception of the sacraments helped him immensely during the difficult times of being a police officer. In addition, keeping his gaze on the Lord was a constant reminder of what it means to be a shepherd and a servant leader.
“All human life is sacred,” former Madison Police Chief Koval shared. “And I had those exact words put in our police manual. You take an oath to serve and to protect. That means you serve and protect all human life, everybody, regardless of their state in life.”
It’s this mindset that inspired Koval to equip the entire Madison Police Department with Naloxone.
Saving lives
Known in some circles as an “opioid antagonist,” Naloxone, if administered in a timely fashion, can reverse the effects of an overdose of heroin or opioids.
He was one of the first police chiefs in Wisconsin to make such a bold move.
Since this implementation, Madison police officers have saved hundreds of lives — lives that were in despair due to addiction, lives that were instead given hope and a second chance.
While there were certainly more wins than losses during his time as chief, one of his biggest disappointments came when he attempted to provide increased support for his police officers.
“I had always hoped to establish some kind of chaplaincy program for the Madison Police Department,” he shared. “But the intentionality of secularism here in Madison is disturbing.”
“We weren’t trying to force-feed a dogma or a doctrine. Everybody is enamored with employee health and wellness, and for good reason. So why can’t we identify and point to the spiritual dimension as being every bit as vital to a vibrant, functioning, flourishing police officer?”
“I, quite frankly, find it difficult to understand how anyone can do the job as a police officer without the comfort and consolation knowing that you’re not alone — knowing God is in control.”
‘Psalm 23 figures’
As Koval spoke of his service, he spoke highly of the brave men and women he served alongside for all those many years. Repeatedly, he referred to police officers as guardians and shepherds and referred to them as “Psalm 23 figures.”
“I’ve never liked the image of cops as the ‘Action Jackson’ figure,” he told me. “Between movies, television, and novels, police officers are made out to be warriors. We were complicit and fed into this stereotype, but I always preferred the image of guardians over the warrior mindset.”
“Words have power. There is nothing wrong with someone saying they work in law enforcement,” he continued. “My only concern is it doesn’t begin to tell the tale of the tape.”
Koval has been around policing for nearly 40 years, and in his estimation, only about 20 percent of a police officer’s day-to-day work is enforcing the law.
“The other 80 percent,” he told me, “is literally social work, diagnostics, referral, quality of life assessor, maintaining order — a lot of things that have absolutely nothing to do with enforcement of law per se.”
As calls for defunding the police are being made in cities around the country, including here in Madison, it’s perhaps never been more difficult to serve and protect.
Many years ago, Koval witnessed his Uncle Sean Riley faithfully serving the city of Madison. He saw in his uncle a noble and honorable man advocating for and protecting the people of Madison. He saw a man who took seriously his job of committing himself wholly and completely to the service and protection of his flock.
“If we constantly label officers as racist, force-dominating people, who are only in it for some personal agenda — I worry about what future police forces will look like,” he told me. “We need good men and women holding the thin blue line, protecting the citizens of this great community.”
As he finished off his last Diet Coke and began to climb out of the booth, he looked back and added, “I didn’t mention this earlier, but in honor of my uncle, Jane and I named our two sons, Sean and Riley.”