The next time you encounter one of Madison’s finest out on the street (or get hauled off by one at the Mifflin Street Block Party), do yourself a favor. Ask the officer what he or she did in his or her past life.

You might raise the cop’s eyebrow, particularly if the officer assumes you’re referring to some sort of Buddhist thing, but more than likely you’ll be pleasantly surprised and a little taken aback. Depending on the officer you’re asking, the answers could run the gamut from basketball player to blackjack dealer, teacher to lawyer, or business owner to bus driver. One thing’s for certain — since Sergeant Mike Koval took over recruiting for the Madison Police, the department has an impressive number of officers who never expected they’d be wearing a badge for a living.

I was pleased to see in today’s State Journal an article by cops reporter Sandy Cullen detailing the diverse assortment of backgrounds many of our boys and gals in blue come from. It’s part of the department’s effort to reinvent policing, as they will tell you, and it makes sense.

The need for police is an unfortunate reality in society. It’s tough to argue against it. The question then becomes, who should a city entrust with the abilities to carry a gun and Taser in public, give orders in emergencies and cuff anyone to drag down to the station? Are we better served by a police force that grew up with dreams of kicking in doors and knocking out teeth, or squads of enforcers who use problem-solving and effective communication as their primary weapons, while keeping a can of whoop-ass in their back pocket as a fallback?

Surprisingly, Madison’s technique is as unique as it is.

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Sergeant Koval about a year back by Public Information Officer Joel Despain, and he’s since proved to be a valuable font of information and the source of a few good chuckles. When we met, it was to talk about the city’s latest class of recruits. I was taken aback by the strange brew of backgrounds they brought to the table, but he explained that diversity is part of the department’s strength.

The logic makes sense. You can teach any trained ape to fire a gun and swing a a billy-club, but Koval told me the traits they’re interested in are level-headedness, intuition and a legitimate desire to help people. Coupled with the department’s incentivized plan to continue officers’ education, it almost hearkens back to the warrior-scholars of old.

Could it be that Koval isn’t building a police force, but a Jedi order?

After the interview I’d come for, our conversation turned to area high school basketball (which I confess, Koval — a local boy — has a better grasp on, in spite of the fact that I was doing color commentary on some games at the time), and then he tried to recruit me.

“Excuse me,” I spluttered like a female bar patron who’s just been told her dress would look better on some frat boy’s floor. If you had made a numbered list of things I was expecting when I walked into Koval’s office, a job pitch would have ranked somewhere in the neighborhood of ten-thousandth.

“You should apply to be a Madison Police Officer,” Koval repeated. “You know, I used to be a reporter, but here I am now.”

Guy could sell ice to the Inuit. If I hadn’t had another pressing appointment, he might have had me in a half hour’s time. The notion still crosses my mind, from time to time, though it’s usually followed in short order by a temporarily crippling bout of maniacal laughter.

As persuasive and vivacious as Sergeant Koval is, it’s no surprise the Madison Police Department gets more than a thousand applications for a dozen or so openings every year. I don’t envy him the task of sorting through those resumes, but in the end, it’s the city that’s benefiting from his dedication and his open-mindedness. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see him invited by some institution or another to spread his school of thought to other cities in years to come.