KELLOGG — Mitch Alexander and his wife, Keri, were standing in a grocery store checkout line when a little girl walked up, hugged his leg, and said, “Thank you for helping my family. Our family is so much better.”

Keri and the checker immediately dissolved into tears, and a young Mitch, who was a detective for child abuse at the time, did a reality check.

“It took hold,” he said.

Alexander realized that law enforcement isn’t so much about writing traffic tickets, conducting investigations or busting bad guys. It’s about a little girl hugging you in the checkout line.

Law enforcement has been Alexander’s life. He served 25 years as a Shoshone County Sheriff’s deputy and eight years as sheriff. And not a day of regret.

But not before experiencing a dream childhood in the mountains of North Idaho. The likable 47-year-old father of two who are sixth generation of the Silver Valley, was raised in Mullan, which was still a happening place at the time.

His father, Earl, owned the Miners Club bar where Alexander and his buddies would hang out when they were allowed and accept candy bars from the miners in the early morning.

The mines arranged their shifts so miners would systematically support local businesses.

“Those old-timers were really good to us. It was just an interesting time. We caught the tail end of changing history. Now you would never see people in a bar like that... maybe drinking coffee. But you’re not going to see the hard drinkers,” he said. “It’s not good for family. Women today wouldn’t put up with that.

“But it was a great place. We had a lot of freedom to come and go.”

Alexander hunted. He fished for native cutthroat trout, which were teeming in the streams at the time. And he cut firewood to fuel two wood stoves in the house and one in the Miners Club.

“That’s what we did. If you got in trouble — out too late or running around — then you got wood duty. So I cut a lot of wood.” he said. “Mullan was a unique, interesting place. Seven of us living in a house with one bathroom. No shower, just a tub. You just didn’t know any different. It was just a simple life.”

Christmas has always been a big deal for him. Santa would arrive in Mullan on a fire truck and hand out goodies. Mitch and Keri have three Christmas trees on display in their 4,000-foot-home.

From age 13 through high school, Alexander and his buddies would backpack into the mountain lakes above Mullan and camp out.

“Now you probably can’t get a 13-year-old to camp out in their own back yard,” he said, smiling.

Alexander and his friends also had their boyhood moments. They tried to start a business screening dirt to sell as potting soil. When that failed, they tried selling Playboy magazines to the town’s barbershop.

“We got in trouble for that one,” he said.

Then they stole “dry hooks” from the Lucky Friday Mine, which miners would use to dry their work clothes. They would attach a rope to the triple hooks and sling them into trees.

“We had those damn hooks (and tree forts) all over the place,” he said.

Until they got caught.

Alexander attended Mullan High School and graduated in 1988 with one of the largest senior classes — 32 in all. He was an all-state football player, a defensive monster. He registered six quarterback sacks in one game.

Shortly after graduation, he was attending a Kellogg football game and met Keri. They were married in 1991.

Mitch enrolled at North Idaho College and was encouraged by an advisor to pursue law enforcement. He considered a career in the military, but decided he couldn’t leave his roots.

“I remember going to the big city for the first time and nearly having anxiety. It’s a big world out there,” he said. “When you’re raised in a tiny town in North Idaho in the mountains and that’s all you’re used to... I just love that place. That’s why I never wanted to leave. I love this valley so much.”

In 2008, Alexander pulled off the improbable. The kid from Mullan ran for sheriff as a write-in candidate — and won. Decisively.

He attended the exclusive FBI Academy in Virginia, but last year he was defeated by 38 votes.

He now works as a finance manager for Dave Smith Motors in Kellogg.

He says he misses the community involvement and the opportunity to assist, but not the pressure.

“It took a toll,” he said, harkening back to the little girl in the checkout line and his time with international students at the FBI Academy. “I tell people who ask what law enforcement is like... you lose part of your soul. You see the way the world really works. The real world. People don’t know it’s like that. Nor do I think they should.

“It’s always a little heavy on the heart.”