Michael Pelton started his martial arts background prior to becoming a Police Officer. He wrestled all four years in high school and during the off season also took judo classes. After graduating high school he became an assistant High School Wrestling Coach for two years where he attended coaching clinics, some including olympic gold medalist Dan Gable. These clinics helped him to become a better teacher, instructor, and coach.

In 2002 Mike started his law enforcement career and has since served on two law enforcement agencies during his 19 year career giving him the perspective and knowledge of multiple agencies. He began with the Sheriff’s Department in 2002 where he served as a patrol Deputy in both the San Xavier and Green Valley districts. In 2005 he lateraled to the Tucson Police Department. During his career with TPD he served as a patrol officer in Team 4, bike patrol in Teams 2 and 4, and what is formerly known as Downtown Division. While in bikes he was involved in graffiti detail and worked with the violent crime task force in Team 4. He was one of the founding officers for the Downtown District. He served as a class counselor at the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement training center and now is currently working there as a class officer helping to prepare recruits to graduate from the academy.

During his time with TPD he has been a Field Training Officer, General Instructor, Driving Instructor, and has had extensive experience at the academy. During his career he has been selected as recipient of the Southern Arizona First Responders Life Saving Award, TPD Life Saving Award, Unit Medal, and the Citation of Excellence Award.

Officer Pelton continued his journey into martial arts by extending his skill set into jiu-jitsu, getting to the level of purple belt and continuing to hone his skills by regularly participating in martial arts classes. The repetitive training during these classes are the reason why throughout his career he was able to use minimal force to take suspects into custody in many situations. As he nears the end of his career as a police officer, he wants to give back to officers and community members by helping to keep them safe through the NBR program which was designed to accomplish this exact mission.