My Forsyth_March 2021

INTERVIEW
Q. Gio, how did you go from being a beat cop
to a drummer?
A. Actually, the irony of my career is that I was
a drummer before becoming a cop. I began
drumming in the 4th grade in Paulsboro, NJ, a
small industrial town very close to Philadelphia,
PA on the Delaware River.
Q. Ok, then why law enforcement?
A. I grew up in a large law enforcement family. It
was a way of life. In fact, the Gloucester County
Police museum in New Jersey has a display
of myself and all my family members (in law
enforcement) in their museum. My grandfather
and his brother were both cops as were most of
their kids, my uncles. My uncle Steve was a New
Jersey state trooper and also the uncle responsible
for keeping me on the straight and narrow. As a
teenager he got me involved in the NJ state police
youth academy. At the time I was in a high school
band called E.S.P playing gigs in local pool halls
and parties. Our band won two talent shows in
high school and I won an individual talent show
for drumming. I really thought I would go on to
be a musician.
Walking a different BEAT
AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKE GIORDANO
By Katie Kaner
Mike Giordano retired from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office after 20 years of
public service. He began his career as a beat cop and worked his way up to Chief
Deputy before retiring in January of 2017. He is now a professional drummer, who
prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was touring with an international act and playing in
a couple of local rock and roll bands.
I had the pleasure of sitting down one on one with Mike “Gio” Giordano to talk about
his new “beat”.
Q. So, how did you end up at the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office?
A. After High School our band members went
their own ways. I ended up going to a local college
in NJ and working loss prevention at Sears. I was
looking for a job in law enforcement, but because
of the nepotism rules up north and having a large
majority of my family in the profession, it was
proving difficult to get hired on in my local area.
I had family who relocated to the Forsyth County
area. I came to visit here for a relative’s graduation
party. While visiting I stopped by the Sheriff ’s
Office and visited with one of the command staff
in early 1996. The conversation went better than
expected and I was ultimately offered a job as a
deputy in the jail.
Q. Did you move right away?
A. Pretty much. At that time, I was dating my wife
Michelle, for about a year. I was ready to leave NJ
and had a long conversation with her when I got
back from my visit. At first, I moved down alone,
but within a few months she enrolled at North
Georgia College and she joined me here.
Q. What happened to your drums and your
drumming career?
A. I had to leave my drum kit in NJ and put my
drumming career on hold while focusing on
my law enforcement career. Although, I was a
50 MYFORSYTHMAG.COM VOLUME XI | ISSUE 1