Photo provided by Lt. Brian Woloski
By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published July 8, 2025
NOVI — Police officers are often thought of as some of our local heroes, but some of those local heroes are also national heroes, having served — or currently serving — in the U.S. armed forces.
Nine members of the Novi Police Department have this distinction: seven officers and two civilian employees. Four of the officers were able to take the time to sit down with the Novi Note to reflect upon their transition from service to country to service to community.
“I think we’re all generally looking for the same camaraderie that we had in the service, being a member of a team, and it’s essentially serving the public, the community,” said Novi Police Lt. Adam Elsen, 51. “I mean, we served the United States and now we’re serving the community more.”
Elsen, a 20-year veteran of the NPD, served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper for three years from 1992 to 1995, leaving as a specialist. He said he felt that it was his calling to join the military.
Novi Police Lt. Brian Woloski, 54, has served the Novi community as a police officer for the last 24 years. Prior to becoming an officer, Woloski served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999.
He said that the foundational skills and qualities he learned in the Marine Corps are essentially the foundation of his current career in law enforcement. These skills include leadership, principle and rank structure as well as traits that the Marine Corps encourages: decisiveness, dependability, initiative, judgment, justice, enthusiasm, knowledge, tact and loyalty.
“It’s ingrained in you, you know, and it does carry over,” Woloski said.”Not only that, it gives you life experience dealing with the military, maturing, being responsible for yourself and others, and having to do that in law enforcement.”
Police officer Douglas Skaff agreed with Woloski and said that the Police Department operates in a similar way to the military. Skaff, 22, has been with the NPD for six months as an officer — he was previously a cadet — and is an active-duty Marine Corps reservist since 2020. He is stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base where he is an E-3 lance corporal.
“Being in the police, it’s like a paramilitary organization,” Skaff said. “The rank structure is similar. The way things operate in some ways is similar. So, it kind of helps you when you have that military background to be able to blend easier being an officer in terms of how things work and our personal relationships, that type of thing.”
Elsen said that as soldiers they were willing to put their lives on the line and face dangerous situations, and as police officers, they do the same.
“In the military, you’re moving towards danger and being willing to put your life in harm’s way. That carries over into police work pretty well,” he said. “You’ll have that mindset that, ‘Yeah I’m going in there, but I have the training and the ability to come out and still handle this problem even though it’s going to be dangerous.’”
Police officer Steven Finlayson, 37, has been serving the Novi community for eight years. Prior to becoming a police officer, Finlayson served in the United States Marine Corps infantry, specializing in anti-tank guided missiles, from 2009-2014. He was deployed for two combat tours in Afghanistan and one noncombat tour in Southeast Asia.
Finlayson said that his grandfather, Andrew Pelto, was a Marine who served in the Korean War’s Battle of Chosin Reservoir, and he aspired to follow in his footsteps.
“I think both are a calling,” he said. “I don’t think it’s something you do on a whim. Especially being in the military, you are signing your life over to the government, but it’s something that you’re drawn to, and it’s the same thing for law enforcement.”
The officers spoke of the negative perception the public might have of law enforcement in today’s age, as well as the amount of respect the military receives.
Woloski spoke of the country’s extreme patriotism that was seen post-World War II and then again post-9/11, and the lack of patriotism during the 1960s and ’70s.
“I think we all remember those times. The patriotism in this country was unbelievable. I remember driving down the street, and there were so many American flags on cars that they’re all over the ground because they were falling off cars. I don’t think we’ve seen that level of patriotism before or probably since World War II,” Woloski said. “I wouldn’t say people don’t respect the military; I just think that most of society is so caught up in themselves than to appreciate or recognize a veteran or somebody who is currently serving.”
The officers said that they don’t often get recognized for their service, but they make a point to thank people they see in the community wearing a military uniform or a hat commemorating service in a particular war or conflict, etc.
“I think it’s those that served that usually recognize the veterans quicker,” Woloski said.
He said that when people thank a veteran for their service, they are not just thanking the individual veteran, but they are thanking every veteran who came before them and fought for our country’s independence.
As a veteran, Finlayson said that his military service has helped to gain confidence with other veterans within the community while out on patrol.
“There’s been quite a few calls with veterans who are having a mental crisis where I’ve been able to step in and empathize with them a little bit and kind of de-escalate the situation and build a little bit of a rapport with them. It’s happened more than once,” Finlayson said.
“You gain rapport quicker because you have a common denominator,” Woloski said.
“Even though things are getting better with the community and such, there’s still some tough times. Not everybody likes the police,” Finlayson said.
Finlayson said a lot of times, veterans will say, “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” or “I served in Afghanistan,” and that he can then say, “Oh, me too,” and ask when they served and what was their military occupational specialty.
“I can ask those kinds of questions and they know I’m not just BS-ing with them, we’re having a legitimate conversation, and in my experience it always de-escalates it pretty quickly,” he said.
Members of the Novi Police Department who served in the military are recognized with a special pin as part of their uniforms, which names the branch they served in. According to Woloski, who brought the idea to the city, Novi is one of only two local police departments to have such recognition for veterans on the force.
“Novi is a great community,” Woloski said. “I mean, it’s such a good community. Even in the toughest of times recently, we’ve always had community members that are there for us and express their gratitude and thanks. So, we’re very fortunate to work here.”