When the Eureka Police Department moves into its new digs, there will be a new nameplate on top of the chief’s desk – but a familiar face behind it.
Longtime Chief Michael Wiegand is retiring and Capt. Michael Werges, who has been serving as assistant chief since 2023, will step into the role he’s been working toward since his teens.
The department is poised to move into the new $11.5 million Michael A. Wiegand Justice Center at 100 City Hall Dr., built on the site where the old City Hall was demolished in early 2024. The justice center is part of the city’s new Eureka Government Center, which also will house City Hall and the Municipal Court.
Eureka’s municipal code requires the city to elect a city marshal, who then serves as police chief with the sanction of the Board of Aldermen. Werges ran uncontested for the marshal seat in the April 8 election.
Werges said due to him running unopposed, he was scheduled to be sworn in during the Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday night, which was held after the Leader’s deadline. St. Louis County, where Werges received 1,330 votes, had not certified its election results as of Tuesday, but Jefferson County, where he got 112, had made its election results official.
Werges will be only the fourth police chief in the city’s 70-year history. Wiegand has served as chief since 1987.
“That makes us very stable,” Werges said. “Each of (the former chiefs) did basically what I did, which is work their way up. I spent the longest time of anyone on the path to the chief spot. My slow rise, all the time I spent in uniform, I look at it as a gift and a blessing.”
Never a doubt
Werges, 50, grew up in Eureka and says he knew early on that police work was the career for him. He served as a D.A.R.E. student mentor and was a member of the Eureka Police Explorers group before graduating in 1992 from Eureka High School.
He played football while earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in criminal justice at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State University). He graduated from the police academy in November 1997.
Since there were no open positions with the Eureka Police at that time, Werges decided to join the department as an unpaid reserve officer.
“I had opportunities to go other places, but that’s not what I wanted,” he said. “I had always dreamed of going back to my hometown. It wasn’t about pay, necessarily, but rather about making a difference. If you’re raised in a place, you police in a different manner.”
He completed a three-month stint of field training and was hired as a full-time Eureka Police officer in April 1998.
Over the next two decades, Werges worked his way up the department ranks. He was a police K-9 officer for 15 years and held a number of roles in the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA), being named Trainer of the Year in 2017.
He was promoted to sergeant in 2016 and to lieutenant in 2020, overseeing a uniform patrol of 20 officers. He was named captain in July 2023 and given the title of assistant chief.
“I also continued my education,” he said. “I got a graduate degree, did a 10-week course at the FBI Academy and graduated from the Missouri Police Chiefs Command College.”
Werges said he views education as a key component in the mix of qualities needed for a chief to be effective in a particular place.
“People expect a certain level of service in a community like this,” he said. “You need to merge experience with up-to-date education. Although I’m the ‘hometown guy’ and everybody knows me, that’s not what I wanted to hang my hat on. I want to be known not as the best candidate for chief anywhere, but the best one specifically for Eureka. I’ve never had any desire to work anywhere else.”
Werges will oversee a department of 28 officers and four police clerks. He earns $107,500 as assistant chief, and Wiegand retires with a salary of $120,000.
“The board sets my salary (as chief),” Werges said. “I haven’t been told yet what that will be.”
Werges’ wife of 20 years, Jennifer Werges, is also a Eureka Police officer, although she will not fall under her husband’s direct supervision.
“She teaches law enforcement at South County Tech,” he said. “She will help us out here with things like the Special Olympics and our Shop with a Cop program.”
Making his mark
Wiegand, 69, is poised to retire from the only adult job he’s ever had.
He worked security at Six Flags as a teen, and earned an associate degree before being hired as a police officer by Eureka on his 21st birthday. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Webster University in the early 1990s.
He was promoted to sergeant in the early 1980s and to lieutenant in 1985. He ran for and won his first term as city marshal in 1987 and was reelected nine more times before choosing not to seek another term this year.
He was honored by the city in 2021, when it was announced the new Police Station would be named for him.
Wiegand said the decision to retire was not a difficult one to make.
“It’s just time,” he said. “I knew in 2021, the last time I ran, that it was going to be the last time.”
He and his wife, Kathy, plan to spend time with their four daughters and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in the area.
“There are a lot of ‘honey-do’ things I’ve let go for many years, as most retirees do,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll try and catch up that, maybe do some more hunting and fishing, get out and about a little bit.”
He also plans to become a volunteer ambassador for the BackStoppers organization, helping to raise funds.
“I plan to have just enough input with groups associated with law enforcement that I can still talk to folks who do the job we love.”
Wiegand said he feels confident he’s leaving the department in good hands.
“Mike (Werges) and I sat down and had some hard conversations in the last five years or so,” he said. “He’s very energetic, very passionate about the people who work for us and who are going to work for us. We try to make sure everyone understands we serve the people who pay our salaries. That passion is put forth throughout the department.”
He said Werges has a clear plan laid out for the department’s future.
“He’ll have a great command structure,” Wiegand said. “He has a lot of great contacts, and he can talk to people in different states, different countries even, and ask their insight and input.”
Wiegand expressed his gratitude to the community for his long career.
“I thank the citizens and the police department for the opportunity to be their chief,” he said. “They put their trust in me all these years to protect their families and keep our community safe together.
“My parents always taught me, if you go somewhere, you should leave it in better shape than when you got there. The Eureka PD is better now than it was when I came, and it’ll be better when Mike takes over. He’s going to do amazing things, and I can’t wait to see them.”
Into the future
Werges said he is excited to see what the future holds for Eureka, where the population stands at 12,000-plus and growing.
“Eureka is a small town that has sprawled into a fast-growing community,” he said. “What is neat is we are still able to keep that small-town feel. We can be welcoming – whether you’ve been here a week or were born here, I will always listen to you, always try to treat everyone fairly.
“Because of my experience, I know the inner workings of the city, I know the families. I can be more effective. I feel an immense sense of loyalty and privilege.
“It is an enormous responsibility, and I do not take it lightly.”