Officer Michael Thiele wanted to be a police officer from a young age. When he was old enough, he joined the Explorers Program with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and then joined the department as an officer in 2006. 

Officer Thiele possesses a passion for traffic safety, and he has developed extensive skills in dealing with impaired driving, including attaining certification as a Drug Recognition Expert instructor. 

In 2021, Officer Thiele was assigned to the role of traffic intervention officer and tasked to develop new initiatives to combat impaired driving. To this end, he partnered with a social worker to visit offenders at their homes after they were arrested for a second impaired driving offense. The idea was to offer various resources for counseling and treatment sooner, instead of waiting for a court mandate. In 2022, 80 percent of those visited used the resources provided to them, and the program was 97 percent successful in preventing recidivism in those who accepted resources. 

Officer Thiele also created a Traffic Safety Officer course that has led to 130 trained officers and 1500+ DUI arrests by those students, and there is already a waitlist of internal and external officers for the next two upcoming courses. This program has a 12 to 1 ratio in impaired driving arrests when compared to non-TSO patrol officers.    

Officer Thiele has also received multiple awards for his community service, crisis response, and emergency response, including the Medal of Valor for his role in the response to the 2017 Las Vegas festival shooting. 

“I have always found happiness in helping people throughout their trials and tribulations through life.”