Johnson and Johnstone spent their final day working together Friday, when Johnstone retired from the East Lansing Police Department, or ELPD, after serving the community for 27 years.

Throughout his time at the ELPD, Johnstone has been “a model employee,” East Lansing police Chief Juli Liebler said.

“He never had one issue in his 27-year career,” Liebler said. “That’s a long time to never be in an accident, to never make a mistake that you were in trouble for — it says a lot about him.”

A lifetime of service
For Johnstone’s wife, Kris Johnstone, watching her husband put his life on the line “doesn’t get any easier,” she said.

With late night phone calls and work with riots, Kris Johnstone worried while her husband was away.

“I pretty much stayed up all night long,” she said.

Still, she understands the sacrifice he’s made for the East Lansing community.

“I’m proud of him,” Kris Johnstone said. “I think he’s done a very good job.”

With experience ranging from suicide negotiations to investigating criminal sexual assault cases involving children, his work “takes its toll,” Tom Johnstone said.

“It leaves a mark on officers,” he said. “You might not see it on the outside, but it’s there on the inside.”

Although he won’t miss hearing the phone ringing late at night, it was an important part of his job, Tom Johnstone said.

“It becomes your whole life,” he said. “Somebody who takes their job seriously doesn’t ever put it away.”

Dealing with danger
From Cedar Fest riots to anti-war demonstrations on Grand River Avenue, Johnstone’s career has been shaped by his work with crowd control and civil disorder.

“We relied on him for his expertise, particularly with crowd control,” East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said. “We benefited enormously from his demeanor, his professionalism (and) his tact, and it will be missed.”

One of Johnstone’s first experiences with crowd control was during the Munn field riot of 1998.

During the Munn field riot, the ELPD used tear gas on rioters for the first time “in a long time,” former East Lansing police Capt. Steve Chubb said.

“Tom was the one that ended up firing the tear gas at that riot, and I was the one (who) gave the command to fire it,” Chubb said. “It was funny because he asked about five times, ‘Is this an order? Are you telling me to fire the gas?’”

As the crowd grew and the situation became dangerous, Johnstone felt his nerves kick in.

“Inside, I was in absolute turmoil,” he said. “But you rely on your training.”

To others, Johnstone was a role model, Chubb said.

“You couldn’t ask for a person with a cooler head or a calmer demeanor in a very tense situation,” he said. “He kept his head, made sure he understood the orders and then followed through — you can’t ask any more than that.”

A final goodbye
Although Johnson and Johnstone will stay in touch once Johnstone begins his new full-time work training officers across the country in crowd control, parting ways has been difficult, Johnson said.

Johnson spoke through tears as he remembered their last day of work together at the ELPD.

“It was tough,” he said. “But we’ll get through it.”

With Johnstone’s retirement, two additional officers were hired, and former East Lansing police Lt. Bill Mitchell took his place.

Still, the two new employees will not be enough to replace Tom Johnstone, Liebler said.

Even though he won’t be working at the ELPD anymore, Johnstone will continue to have an impact on the city and department, Chubb said.

“The memory is there, and when you have a good strong leader … their policies tend to carry through,” he said. “People look up to him, so as a result he leaves his mark on the city and the police department.”