Steve Miller, IUS Police officer, was born in Milwaukee.

When he was 5 year old, his parent’s job transferred to New York, and he continued to live there, in Long Island, for 33 more years.

Miller was getting his undergraduate degree in criminal justice and originally thought he was going to be a lawyer.

His best friend, who was also a criminal justice major, told him about a job with the New York Police Department. He had about four months until he would graduate and he took that time to think about joining the NYPD.

Miller applied for a position with the NYPD and was hired quickly. He said it had good benefits and it seemed like a very interesting job.

“After I became a cop for about a year, I really had no interest in becoming a lawyer,” Miller said. “After I dealt with attorneys, I just didn’t care for them that much, and I thought I don’t really want to be like that.”

As a cop in Queens, N.Y., Miller started off as a patrol officer. Later, he went to work in headquarters in the chief detective’s office, where he was administrative officer for seven years.

He was later promoted to detective and started working for the technical assistance response unit, where they provided technical support for major events such as the U.S. Open.

Miller said becoming a cop wasn’t a conscious effort.

“It more-so found me, rather than me finding it,” Miller said.

For Miller, the most exciting part about his job as a cop was the unpredictability of it.

“Every day is somewhat different. You can’t really plan your day like you can if you worked in an office,” Miller said. “You are generally your own boss most of the time. You are trusted with a lot of things, like working on your own, and I like that about it.”

In 1996, he moved to Sellersburg, where he already had friends and relatives.

He thought this area was centrally located and liked the idea that he could be close to the city, but live in the country, which was what he wanted to do.

“I’d had enough of the city, so I wanted a house with some property and things like that,” Miller said.

When he got out of New York City, Miller said the last thing he wanted to do was be a cop again.

He eventually went to work as a prison guard for the Kentucky State Reformatory.  He said the work wasn’t bad and the schedule was good, but the pay was horrible.

“Honestly, you could almost work at Wendy’s full-time and make as much money and not worry about getting stabbed to death every day,” Miller said.

When the opportunity to work as a police officer for IU Southeast came up, he thought it was a nice way to tie in working in the city, yet having it be more of a service job as opposed to an enforcement job.

At IU Southeast, Miller works from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and he said he enjoys his work here. A standing assignment of Miller’s is the keys for the whole university. If anyone has a key request or problem, he is the man to go to. From day-to-day, his job can vary from ticket enforcement to general patrol, including jump starting cars or helping people who have locked  keys in their car.  He said, on average, there are about two lock-outs per day on cars.

“It turns out that the day goes fast because there is always something to do, in one way or another, on the day shift,” Miller said. “There’s so many people to interact with on the day shift that it’s kind of fun. I think it’s the best shift to work.”

While Miller said he enjoys his job, he also enjoys his life outside of work. He said his life has changed for the better, since moving to Indiana.

“I feel less stressed than I was when working in the city and living in the area with so many people,” Miller said. “I’m definitely more relaxed. I can do a lot more gardening because I have property now around the house.”

However, Miller said living here still took some getting used to.

He said he misses the food in New York the most.

“The food is really good in New York and you can get just about anything you want without too much trouble,” Miller said. “I always say it’s hard to get a bad meal in New York, but, to me, it’s kind of hard to get a good meal here.”

He was also more familiar with the colder weather in New York

“Here it is so darn hot in the summer time it’s just unbearable,” Miller said. “The first year I was here in the summer, I thought I was going to die. It was just so hot I couldn’t believe it.”

Since moving here, Miller has picked up some hobbies that he really enjoys. Aside from gardening, he has been raising and showing French bulldogs for three and a half years now.

“I have always liked animals, and I’ve always liked dogs,” Miller said. “I’ve always had dogs all my life. For some reason I gravitated towards this breed.”

About twice a year, Miller’s dogs will have a litter of puppies. He said it is a lot of work to take care of them.

While he is working at IU Southeast, he will have friends or neighbors to make sure the puppies are OK until they are about six weeks old and eating on their own.

From work to home-life, Miller said he enjoys everything he is involved in.

Southern Indiana has given him a place to call home.