THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510110180
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
AS A YOUNG Suffolk police officer, Michael D. Eberhardt arrested suspected law breakers. Now an attorney, his responsibility is to defend clients to the fullest extent of the law.
Eberhardt, 43, admits that his unique opportunity to observe the judicial system from different perspectives has changed some of his views.
``When you're young, you want to set the world on fire,'' he said. ``A police officer wouldn't be human if he didn't care about a case. He goes through the trauma of an arrest and puts a case together. Then, he sees a lawyer come into court, mumble some mumbo-jumbo, and the prisoner walks out the door.''
Eberhardt, who became a Suffolk policeman in 1974, said he soon formed the opinion that lawyers enjoy the luxuries of life with very little effort.
``Lawyers drive nice cars, wear nice suits and don't work that hard,'' he said, smiling. ``At least, that's what I thought as a police officer, and some probably still believe it.
``Today, I know that those few words were the product of many hours of work. I don't know a single lawyer who works five days a week, eight hours a day. If you're dedicated to your profession, you can't get the work done in five.''
Eberhardt was in private practice in Portsmouth until last April, when he took over Judge Robert Gillette's law practice at 429 N. Main St. He now works as a defense lawyer and has good rapport with Suffolk police officers.
``I've got an inside view and know the dues they've paid to become police officers,'' he said. ``I know the old-timers . . . and when they tell me something, I can put it in the bank. I also know that if a legitimate arrest is made and prisoners are released on a technicality, they're coming back through the system. It shows the system is working.''
A native of Fort Riley, Kan., Eberhardt said his family moved frequently during his childhood.
``My father was an Army officer, and we had no home except the road,'' he said.
In 1967, his father retired in Virginia Beach, and Eberhardt graduated from Princess Anne High School.
``I always wanted to be a policeman and put something back into the community,'' he said. ``I think any man or woman who becomes a police officer genuinely wants to protect the weak from people who want to prey on them.''
Believing Suffolk to be a premier growth area of Hampton Roads, Eberhardt applied to the Suffolk Police Department.
``I think it's harder to be an officer today than when I was there,'' he said. ``There were no 15- or 16-year-old kids dealing drugs on the corner, armed to the teeth. That's a dangerous combination for police officers.''
Eberhardt rotated through assignments, serving as a uniformed officer, field training officer, a plain clothes detective, and finally, a patrol sergeant. During the five years he worked for the police department, Eberhardt also attended classes at Tidewater Community College.
``After being involved in police work in the detective bureau, I felt I wanted to become a prosecutor,'' he said. ``Prosecution is a very fascinating field.''
In 1979, Eberhardt left the police department, enrolled at Old Dominion University and worked part-time as an investigator for area lawyers. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science in two and a half years.
``I treated school as a job and attended full time,'' he said. ``I thought it was the only way to get through.''
After graduating from T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, Eberhardt became an assistant Commonwealth's attorney in Portsmouth. Later, he was a senior assistant in the Commonwealth's attorney's office in Chesapeake for a year before going into private practice.
Eberhardt and his wife, Debra, plan to move from Portsmouth to Suffolk in the near future. They have two sons, 2-year-old Benjamin and Samuel, who was born Oct. 6. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Former policeman Michael Eberhardt, now a defense lawyer, has good
rapport with Suffolk police officers.
by CNB