Grand Traverse County voters will soon choose between two men vying to lead northern Michigan’s largest sheriff’s office.

Incumbent Michael Shea will square off against challenger Charlie Jetter in the Aug. 6 primary election. As both are running as Republicans with no Democratic opposition, the primary will effectively decide the race.

Although he already holds the office, this is Shea’s first time running for the position in a public election. Both he and Jetter applied to fill the vacancy created when previous sheriff Tom Bensley retired before the end of his term last year, and a selection committee unanimously chose Shea over Jetter after a public interview process. Because that selection was only to fill the remainder of Bensley’s term, Shea must now run for office.

The Ticker sat down with Shea and Jetter individually to discuss the election and what they bring to the table.

Michael Shea

Shea, 59, has been with the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office since 2005. After rising through the ranks, he was selected as Bensley’s undersheriff in 2018. The undersheriff is the second in command and carries out many important administrative duties within the office.

Shea is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to law enforcement in that he had an entirely different career for about two decades before chasing a long-held dream of becoming a police officer. The Traverse City native worked as a cherry farmer and managed a cherry processing operation on Old Mission peninsula before heading to the police academy.

“I think it gives me a different perspective,” he says of his previous experience.

As his nearly 20 years with the office includes almost five years as undersheriff and nearly a year as the appointed sheriff, Shea touts his hands-on experience. He also points to his leadership during a considerably tumultuous time. Since he’s been part of the administration, he’s dealt with the implications of a global pandemic and increased tensions between law enforcement and the public nationwide.

“Law enforcement has been constantly evolving in the last five to 10 years, more so than probably ever in history,” he says.

In part because of those tensions, Shea says he’s “huge proponent of transparency” to help the general public build trust in sheriff’s operations.

Shea says he has a great reputation within the community at large, particularly with various civic groups, nonprofits and other agencies.

“My motto has always been to do the right thing, and I think it’s fairly clear that I’m dedicated to my community,” he says. “Ask our community partners. Talk to the employees. Talk to our brothers and sisters in law enforcement…I believe in this profession, and I believe in this community that I love and adore.”

Deputies are often called to respond to incidents involving mental health, homelessness and other systemic issues the sheriff’s office can’t solve on its own, and Shea says it’s of critical importance to continue to work with community groups on these items.

He also says he’s been involved with numerous initiatives within the sheriff’s office to improve the mental health and well-being of the officers themselves.  

“As cops, we were expected to compartmentalize everything, and it takes its toll. That acute trauma accumulates over time,” he says.

Charlie Jetter

Jetter, 46, is from Shepherd, a small town near Mount Pleasant. He hired on with the Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office in 2001, where he worked as a deputy and later sergeant before leaving the office in 2017 to work full time running a landscaping business. He also serves as a trustee in Mayfield Township.

Jetter, who says he always wanted to run for sheriff when his kids were older and the time was right, wants to lead a sheriff’s office that is engaged with the community as much as possible to “curb the negative stigma” around law enforcement.

“I really want to make change for the positive,” he says. “I want to get the deputies, myself, the whole department out in the public to make a good, positive impact on people and positive change in the community.”

Among initiatives Jetter wants to bring to the department is a more involved citizens academy where the public can learn about sheriff’s office operations and gain skills for their own lives. He’d also like to develop and promote a defensive driving class. He spent years on road patrol and was involved in many crash investigations, and he hopes to reduce the dozen or so fatal crashes the county has in a year.

“I'm not saying we can eliminate them, but maybe we can drop the number,” he says. “Twelve might not sound like a lot, but if it’s your kid, that’s a huge number.”

While he hasn't served in the upper echelons of sheriff's administration, Jetter is confident that he can learn quickly and lean on other resources within the the department as he gets up to speed. 

"It's a team concept," he says. "There will be an undersheriff, and the captains pretty much run the road patrol. There's Captain (Chris) Clark in the detective bureau. You've also got a huge resource right at the county level with (former undersheriff) Nate Alger as the adminstrator."

During his time with the sheriff’s office, Jetter was involved in a highly publicized 2007 incident in which he shot Interlochen resident Craig Carlson with a sniper rifle during an armed standoff. Multiple investigations cleared Jetter of any criminal wrongdoing, and a jury cleared him of any civil liability.

The county’s insurance provider later paid a settlement to Carlson’s family after a lawsuit alleged the many officers involved in the incident were operating without a search warrant, according to reporting by The Record-Eagle.

“It is what it is. It was an unfortunate event and something I couldn’t avoid,” Jetter tells The Ticker.