Dowagiac’s James Kusa has a very simple philosophy when it comes to life: treat people with the respect and compassion they deserve, no matter what they have done — as that is how someone makes a difference in the lives of others.

Be it saving the life of a man suffering from a drug overdose or showing local children the basics of crime scene forensics, it is safe to say that the longtime veteran of the Dowagiac Police Department has left a lasting impression on many who have come to call the community home.

After 40 years of protecting and serving his neighbors in The Grand Old City, though, Kusa is ready to hang up his badge and carry on his mission of improving the lives of others as a private citizen.

The Dowagiac officer is in the process of wrapping up his career with the department this week, with his last shift scheduled for Thursday. Kusa said that he decided to retire in order to focus more on his family, and, with 40 being a nice round number, he felt now was the right time to step down — though he admits he has mixed feelings as his last day in blue looms.

“It’s been a very, very rewarding career to say the least,” Kusa said. “Police work is an important part of who I am, what I believe in. I believe you can make a difference in people, just by how you treat them.”

Though he was not responding to any calls that day, Kusa was hard at his workstation at the Dowagiac police station Saturday morning.

Though he was there to catch up on paperwork, the moment his name came up in the conversation in the phone call one of his fellow officers had taken he gestured toward his compatriot, who transferred the call to his desk. Kusa warmly greeted the caller like he would any old friend, amicably chatting with the person on the other end for several minutes before resuming his work on the computer.

While thing such as that may seem like simple gestures, they are among the ways that officers such as Kusa can make the days of the people they serve just a little better — something he has strived to pass on through others during his tenure with the department.

While he has called Dowagiac home for 44-years, Kusa’s roots lie elsewhere in the Midwest, in Cleveland Ohio. He remains an avid fan of Indians baseball and Browns football, though, judging by the picture of a depressed-looking man with the phrase “Browns: just can’t watch them anymore,” tapped his computer monitor, the latter’s on-field performance has been testing his devotion lately, he joked.

Growing up, Kusa developed an admiration for police work as he watched the way Cleveland officers protect his neighborhood.

Two years after graduating from Padua Franciscan High School in 1971, Kusa moved with his family to Dowagiac — an avid fisherman, he recognized the city as the headquarters of famed lure makers, Heddon — where his dad had found work.

A year after moving to Dowagiac, someone broke into the family’s house. When his mother went down to the station to identify the suspect, the 21-year-old Kusa decided to try and do his part to protect the people of his new home, and filled out an application to become a reserve officer.

On his first night with the department, where he rode with a full-time officer, Kusa found himself helping to investigate a stabbing — quite a dramatic introduction to police work, he said.

“The sergeant thought he would never see me again after that, but I was there bright and early the next time I was scheduled for the road,” he said.

In 1977, Kusa landed a full-time job at the Dowagiac station, where he has served ever since, working under four police chiefs.

Over the years, Kusa has been involved with numerous of cases in Dowagiac, and has honed many different skills, particularly crime scene investigation, he said. While, being a city of nearly 6,000, the case load is not as heavy as in larger metropolitan areas, Kusa said working in Dowagiac has given him experiences in law enforcement he could find anywhere else.

“From start to finish, we are involved in our cases,” he said. “In larger departments, you typically don’t do that. You are only involved in a small portion of the investigation, while we get a taste of everything involved in police work. It’s really interesting.”

Kusa has also been an active member of the Dowagiac Police Department’s outreach efforts, and has been a fixture of Southwestern Michigan College’s annual CSI camp, where he shares his years of experience on the field with middle school students.

“Some of those kids may go off and have a career in law enforcement,” he said. “It’s pretty neat to think you may have had something to do with it.”

Kusa said that, throughout his 40-year career, he has always strived to set a good example for both his fellow officers as well as the citizens he served. While he may never know how many people has positively impacted during his career, he has become no stranger to praise: over the last several years, he has been awarded two of the department’s lifesaving awards, was named the first Dowagiac Police Officer of the Year, was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow award from the Dowagiac Rotary Club and, most recently, was named grand marshal of Friday night’s Christmas Candle-light parade.

“My father always to said, ‘Always do your best, and the best will come back to you,’” he said about the accolades. “He was right.”

While he may be retiring from police work, he will not be the last person in his family to wear a badge, Kusa said. His son, also named James — who Kusa has several photos of, dressed in his Michigan National Guard uniform, on his desk — is currently studying law enforcement at Southwestern Michigan College, and hopes to join the ranks of the Michigan State Police Department.

While Kusa said he will miss the guys at the station, who are like a second family to him, he will not be hard to find around town, even without the uniform.

“Dowagiac will always be my home,” Kusa said.