Like many married couples, the Piheras have their own way of communicating.
“We have our language called our police codes and signals if we don’t want the kids to know what we’re talking about,” said Michele Pihera, a Gwinnett County police sergeant who met her husband Scott in a department training class in 2004.
The officers married two years later. Now parents of four, the Piheras continue to serve the community, though their paths don’t cross much.
“If a couple is married, they’re not allowed to work together,” Michele told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.
Other metro Atlanta law enforcement agencies say they also have married couples who wear matching badges. But not all of the couples wanted to speak publicly about it — even on Valentine’s Day.
As a public information officer for Gwinnett police, Michele Pihera is used to being in the public eye. She’s often the face of the agency when news breaks.
But during her time as a patrol officer, Pihera signed up for a training class called “Drugs that impaired driving.” It was during the class that she met Scott, who had started with Gwinnett police in 1994.
“With a department as large as ours, to find someone in a training class that only had about 25 students is quite remarkable,” she said.
Now, they’re one of about 10 couples in the department. After spending his entire career in the Gwinnett police West Precinct in Norcross, Scott Pihera retired in August 2022. But last year, he returned as a part-time officer in the same precinct, one he knows so well that he doesn’t need a map.
“That’s the only place he wanted to work,” Michele said.
Though she’s ranked higher, Sgt. Pihera says she doesn’t have to worry about her husband ever having to report to her at work, due to the department’s policy.
But what about at home? No comment.
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