A Former U.S. Marshal Explains the Cost Of Running Toward Danger

You’ve heard the phrase “you never know what’s on the other side of that door” but it hits different when it comes from someone who made a career out of going through it. I sit down with former U.S. Marshal Michael Schroeder, a longtime friend and a man with a powerful testimony for Jesus Christ, to talk about the reality of federal law enforcement and the spiritual strength it takes to do it well. Michael breaks down what the United States Marshals Service actually does in plain language, including why it’s the oldest federal law enforcement agency, how its mission connects to the federal judiciary, and what “broad arrest powers” really mean in practice. If you’ve ever searched for “what do U.S. Marshals do” or wondered how courtroom security and fugitive operations function day-to-day, this conversation is a strong starting point. We also get personal. Michael shares when he came to Christ at 19, why his desire to serve didn’t disappear after salvation, and how a season of frustration ended when he surrendered his plans to God. Then we talk about the weight of the job: dangerous arrests, exposure to terrorism cases, and what he calls real evil, and the temptations that can come from law enforcement culture. His perspective is honest and practical, centered on integrity, discipline, and spending real time with the Lord. Listen through to the end for the setup to part two, then subscribe, share this with a friend who cares about faith and service, and leave a review. What part of Michael’s story hit you the hardest?

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for being with me today. Thankful for all of you who are listening in. Over 6,000 cities across this planet. And I pray that you are being used of God and touched of God and strengthened by him this very day. Today we have a special podcast, a former U.S. Marshal, Michael Schroeder, a longtime friend of mine, husband, father, and a powerful testimony for Jesus Christ. Mike, it's great to have you here. You've had an amazing journey, and uh we can't wait to hear about

Why He Chose The Marshals

SPEAKER_01 0:49

it today. So I guess the first question I want to ask is what influenced you and what made you want to become a U.S. Marshal?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

I've always had a desire uh to serve the countries, uh serve America, so to speak. Uh I guess it goes back to me as a little kid watching all these John Wayne movies and so forth.

What U.S. Marshals Actually Do

SPEAKER_00 1:10

And even when I gave my heart to the Lord uh back when I was 19, um that desire to serve didn't change. And and I felt at the time that serving law enforcement, federal law enforcement, I can make that impact. Um and this was at the time of uh the war on drugs and so forth, so I wanted to basically get into the wars, so to speak. So yeah, that's that's where I was at.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

You know, there's a lot of people that what they say they uh run from the action, and then there's people that run to the action. And uh I've always kind of known you as a guy who runs to the action. To become a mar U.S. Marshal, there's a lot involved, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Yes, absolutely. So the uh and just a little background on the U.S. Marshall Service, um the first thing I always say is we're not the Air Marshals, uh totally different agency. Um, but the United States Marshals are is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the country. Uh in fact, President George Washington uh appointed the first 13 U.S. Marshals um back in 1789, and actually that's where our roots are. Um and the beauty of it, of our agency is that we're actually uh stated uh and embedded in the Constitution of the United States, actually, our creation, the office of the U.S. Marshal, and not to bore everybody here, all your listeners, uh, you know, with some uh some history here, but you know, of the three branches of government, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, we fall into the judicial branch. Yes, we we also fall in the executive, but that's another discussion. But in essence, the as the Constitution created the Judiciary Act of 1789, uh, and Congress established the office of federal judges, the judiciary, obviously, from the U.S. Supreme Court all the way down through um appeals courts, uh appellate courts and uh district courts and magistrate courts. Well, the founders uh and the writers of the Constitution said, okay, it's one thing to have the judiciary and all these federal judges out there, but they and they'll have their powers, but they need we need an instrument to enforce uh those powers. Hence the office of the marshal was created, and that's why we kind of fall within the footprint of the uh of the judiciary throughout our country. And with that, uh, what did that entail? Uh first and foremost, we have not to handicap the uh judiciary, hence this office of the marshal, these folks had have broad arrest powers because they not only have jurisdiction in one spot, but they had a need needed jurisdiction around the whole country. Our primary mission obviously is the protection of the federal judiciary and also the uh operation of trials, uh, the protection of the judges, the U.S. attorneys, the prosecutors, uh anybody and everybody that's uh involved in the criminal justice process of our country, uh, to include protecting witnesses, yes, to even include defendants, getting defendants to trial, uh to court, also, you know, housing federal inmates, federal prisoners. Alongside that is uh there are times that obviously people are wanted by the federal government, uh, but they're on the run. So the U.S. Marshals, because of their broad arrest powers, also have their second mission is the apprehension of federal fugitives, folks that are on the run from that are out there. And uh that hasn't changed since 1789. And we had that specialty of, you know, hunting people, hunting man, you know, the worst of the worst that are out there. And then there's a lot of other things. Um you've heard of the witness protection program. I've seen, I'm sure a lot of your listeners have seen a lot of movies, you know, and responsible for that. Uh the U.S. Marshals haven't lost one single witness that is in the program uh since its creation in the early 70s. We do everything from that. We assist uh the military with respect to escorting uh nuclear missiles to and from bases, especially out in the Midwest. Uh, because again, we bring that uh broad arrest powers, we bring that uh broad law enforcement presence. And again, amongst other things, the seizure uh and managing of assets. Uh, for example, if the drug enforcement administration arrests a big drug dealer, all their assets hence are believed to be, you know, obviously purchased through drug proceeds. The U.S. Marshall Service is responsible for managing all that during the course of the uh of that individual's um process in the federal judicial system.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

That's amazing. I mean, it's a lot, uh, especially the 1789 thing. I didn't realize it was that old. Yeah. That's pretty amazing. There's a lot of things that U.S. marshals do that I wasn't aware of. There's lots of sections or

Training And First Assignment

SPEAKER_01 5:46

parts of it. So when you come on board, you know, you're a young guy, U.S. Marshal, just coming on. You've had your training, and what are they, what are your your first assignment? What do they usually do?

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Going back to that, uh, Russ, the the training. So we all prospective uh deputy United States Marshals, and that's our title, actually. If selected, obviously through a very lengthy application process, interview and physicals and so forth, those candidates get sent down to our academy down at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center down in Georgia. Um, and that is a 16 to 18-week uh training. Again, it's rule of law, evidence, um, and then obviously there's the physical aspect of it, uh, a lot of running, especially in the Georgia Heat. Uh, but there's obviously extensive firearms training, extensive tactical training, because obviously there are people out there that don't want to be arrested. So um we have to bring a certain we bring a certain skill set uh to the door, so to speak, with respect to that. So once a candidate has successfully completed that training, they get assigned to various offices, or it could be any office throughout the uh throughout the United States and and all 50 states actually. And I was fortunate enough to my first duty station that as they are called was up in the uh what's referred to as the Southern District of New York, which is headquartered in Manhattan. Um all the states are divided into these judicial districts. New York, a large state, it's divided into four districts. So I happen to be in the Southern District, which is Manhattan, and overseas the Bronx, and obviously up in um the White Plains area as well. But yeah, so that's kind of where I cut my teeth there, uh, right there in the Big Apple, which uh back in 1994, which um I was very fortunate because you get a lot of exposure obviously to a lot of these things that we'll that we've talked about and will be talking about working in the big city.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

The first thing is that comes to mind of a lot of people, I know it comes to my mind is obviously the attacks

The Danger Of Fugitive Arrests

SPEAKER_01 7:38

on the World Trade Center. Correct. The first one that, you know, was thank God wasn't successful. But at that point in time it caused a lot of damage and uh then of course 9-11. So I mean you were right there in the heart of a lot of activity. Must be some pretty tense moments involved in all that. Being the fact that you have to run down some of these guys and you never know what you're gonna find, right? I mean that's gotta be correct. A little nerve-wracking, right? You're you're trained and you know what you're doing, and you're with a crew that knows what they're doing, but still there's always the surprise, you know, that you try to avoid.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Correct. Yes. To your point, Russ, going after fugitives is an extremely dangerous objective, okay? We can have all the training, you can have all the equipment, you can have all the weaponry, you can have all the people there. At the end of the day, you do not know what's on the other side of that door. And that's what I mean is where, you know, we're going after folks that are in their places of residence, is where the albeit an apartment or a trailer or a single-family home or maybe at their job. It can go, as we say, it can go south on us very quickly. Uh, that's why we, you know, the training is so important. It it runs the gamut from white-collar criminals all the way to uh terrorists to gang members to mobsters, you know, and everybody in between. You just never know. And you think that you're going after the most violent individual, which you could be, right? Uh turns out to be the most quietest arrest to be. Or you can go in after somebody that's wanted because they violate the probation, and it turns out to be a firefight.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

There's a lot to live with, the guys that you're with as well, and your team. You know, we live our daily lives, most of us, unknowing of what's actually going on to protect us and to protect our families and to keep the nation that we love the way it is.

Coming To Christ And Surrender

SPEAKER_01 9:32

So the interesting part of this, for those of you who are listening to Chronicles of the End Times, you know, uh, we focus on Christ and His coming and living for Him, and sometimes the challenges and the blessings that are all part of life. Now we bring in the fact that you love the Lord, you're a born-again Christian, you love Jesus, and you're now into this world. When did you actually come to Christ in your life?

SPEAKER_00 9:58

In September of 87. I was 19, and that's when I gave my heart to the Lord. Very blessed and thankful to my girlfriend at the time, uh, and her father, uh, just praying over me. Eventually I would marry that girl. So now at age 19, I was in college though, and as time went on, I s but I still had this desire. I wanted to get in the game, so to speak, um, and again pursue pursue law enforcement. I actually was on a track to go in the military in college, but once I had gotten saved, um, all of a sudden that kind of desire changed quickly, and I but I still had this desire to serve. And upon graduation, I had you know took so many tests in law enforcement from Secret Service, DEA, uh the FBI, even state and local law enforcement. Um but at this point as a young Christian, though I wanted to serve, and I emphasize the word I in that at the end of the day, I would always say though, Lord, it's where you want me to be. It may be a total 180-degree turn that you want me to do. And I always maintained that. To that point, I was, you know, upon graduation thinking I was gonna get hired immediately. That wasn't the case. Uh, I graduated college in 1989, and I was, you know, just spinning my wheels, so to speak, jobs, you know, around town and so forth. And as time went on, you know, there was a frustration part of me was that here a year, a two years, three years goes by and there's nothing going on. And I'm and again, I'm I'm asking the Lord, what do you want me to do? I had so many applications out, and I was actually running neck and neck with Orlando Police Department in Florida, uh, because I I like Disney. And then um uh and uh obviously the U.S. Marshal Service. And I just remember going to my job at the time. Uh I was working security at a local uh sporting good store, and and I I was just so frustrated. I, you know, I I said, Lord, I just threw my hands up in the air, literally, I says, Lord, you you let me know where you want to be. So I just you know, I just surrendered the whole situation to him. Within two weeks, I got a letter from the Marshal Service, you know. Wow. And that's kind of what it took. Uh it was this just that surrendering. So anyway, but now I'm going into the Marshall Service. I'm starting out in a huge office like uh New York City. I was going to and would be exposed to a lot of things as a question about being a Christian in that type of environment.

Faith Under Pressure On The Job

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yes, it was challenging. Um it was challenging on both sides of the law, so to speak, uh, with respect to you know the folks that you're going after to arrest or you're handling as a prisoner, escorting them up to court or or protecting them uh as a witness and forth. These are extremely dangerous people. You see a side of life, um a side of humanity that the regular, you know, person on the street does not see. Um, true evil, and I don't say that loosely, especially, you know, I personally just because of the trials at the time there was a lot of terrorism trials uh going on at the time, so we had a lot of exposure to Al-Qaeda terrorists. Literally, you you can sense the evil coming out of these people. Go into some of these homes and some of these apartments if you're going after a fugitive and you see the uh the filth. I distinctly remember seeing rats in a in a kid's bedroom, um, you know, the with the child, you know, in the uh crib, and just living in squalor like this, it definitely weighs weighs heavily on you. And there how I would handle that with the Lord is and again it goes back to the Lord and equipping me spiritually and being able to process that a lot of these experiences, um, you know, through spending time with the Lord and you know, and sharing with you know guys like yourself, Russ, and uh or my father-in-law or my wife. Um, and then when I said about the other side of the law is like the folks you're working with, all right, the other marshals or other police officers. Believe it or not, you know, there's a lot of work to be done, but there's also a lot of playing to be done, you know. Uh all work and no play, you know, uh makes a deputy a a dull boy, so to speak. So um, you know, so there is there was that temptation at times, right? You know, they're you know, after a day at work, they want to go out, you know, they want to, you know, hit the bars. And um, but after being exposed to that, when I would be telling them, no, you know, now I'm not that. You know, the Bible says, you know, he gives favor, right? So there came a point in time getting beyond the jokes, you know, uh they would call me Father Mike and all that stuff, all the nicknames. It is what it is. You gotta have a thick skin working in law enforcement, but preacher man, I would be called. But at the end of the day, though, there was a spec respect for me where you know it was getting to a point where, and I'm not just focusing on alcohol, but it would get to the point where I'd be at a maybe a retirement party at a at a pub or a tavern there, and right out of the gate, guys are like ordering me a soda already, you know what I mean? So they know, you know, not to pressure me and that type of stuff. So it all comes down to my relationship with the Lord and making that time. You know, we have a gym in the office, you know, you have to maintain a level of fitness uh because there's times, you know, you're gonna be maybe rolling around with somebody trying to get somebody handcuffed. But you can spend an hour and a half in that gym before work. The question is, how much time am I spending in with the Lord? Uh, because that's where the strength is, and that's where a lot of the stuff I was able to share with the Lord, and he equips me and saw his hand throughout my whole career.

Part Two Tease And Closing

SPEAKER_01 15:17

That's part one of Mike's amazing story, and some of the best parts are still to come. So don't hesitate, click on part two and continue the journey. I know you'll be blessed by it. This is Russ Skalsell for Chronicles the End Times. Keep looking up. The king is coming.