Lancaster County sheriff’s captain retires after 32-year stint with department | Crime and Courts
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After 32 years and a half-day, Tom Brookhouser walked out of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday — his last day at the agency where he’s spent his entire law enforcement career.
Brookhouser, 56, was sworn in as a rookie deputy March 1, 1990, seven years after the O’Neill native graduated from Lincoln High School.
By 1 p.m. Wednesday — after a decades-long career that included stints as a narcotics investigator and the commander of the department’s Tactical Response Unit — Brookhouser was at home, reflecting on the job he walked away from.
“I know a handful of guys locally that never made it to retirement,” he told the Journal Star.
So Brookhouser turned in his badge and gun Wednesday, leaving the profession while he’s healthy enough to travel with his wife, he said. They plan to visit their daughters in California and Colorado.
Lancaster County Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Brookhouser shown early in his career.
“Some people might consider (my retirement) early,” he said. “I think 32 years of wearing a gun belt is long enough. But we want to get out and enjoy it while we still have our health and can do it.”
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Brookhouser, who studied criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, worked as a deputy for seven years before he was promoted to sergeant in 1997.
He held that rank for 16 years, working in the courts and patrol divisions before serving on the Metro Fugitive Task Force. He was promoted to captain in 2013 and has commanded the office’s patrol division since 2017.
Brookhouser spent much of his career on the department’s Tactical Response Unit, the agency’s version of a SWAT team. He first joined the unit in 1992 but left it in 2001, after he was activated as a member of the Nebraska Air National Guard in the wake of 9/11.
He was a part of the Air National Guard’s 155th Security Forces Squadron from 1984 until 2004. After 9/11, he served a stint in Saudi Arabia.
He returned to the Tactical Response Unit after his active military tour finished. Brookhouser is the only member of the Tactical Response Unit to have served as operator, assistant team leader, team leader, team coordinator and team commander, according to a news release announcing his retirement.
“I’ve certainly been fortunate, I guess, to be able to accomplish and work in the areas — the specialized areas — that I have, that I’ve wanted to all these years,” he said. “I’ve got nothing but appreciation for my 32 years there, and I’m very satisfied how the career played out.”
Brookhouser in 2014 received the sheriff’s office’s Gallantry Star Award for what Chief Deputy Ben Houchin described as his “bravery in an officer-involved shooting incident.”
Along with then-Sgt. Tommy Trotter, Brookhouser fired five shots at Doug DaMoude, who had aimed an unloaded rifle amid a struggle over the weapon as deputies tried to evict him in May 2014.
DaMoude, who had returned to the home after being evicted a month before, died at the scene. Both Brookhouser and Trotter were cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury.
Brookhouser seemed to reference the incident Wednesday as he reflected on his career.
“I was involved in a couple critical incidents over the years, and those certainly have an impact on law enforcement officers,” he said.
“People don’t join law enforcement to make a lot of money or have a lot of benefits. They do it for the purpose to help people and try and keep the community safe, and that’s certainly one of the reasons I wanted to be a cop my entire life.”
Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or aw*****@jo*********.com.
On Twitter @andrewwegley
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