This dedication has led him on a career-long climb that finds Tomsheck heading integrity and security related functions for CBP. He started protecting his home front as a police officer in his hometown of Omaha, Neb. and moved to the Secret Service, protecting U.S. leaders, their families, and the nation’s financial infrastructure. Now Tomsheck is playing his part in protecting the United States through his role as the top executive in internal affairs.

Tomsheck’s law enforcement credo is closely tied to the concept of community. His goal is to create an organization, a community, grounded in the concepts of honesty and integrity that provides safety and security to its members.

Organizations need a strong frame to be resistant and resilient and the I-beam of the frame is integrity. Tomsheck’s vision for his office is to make it an integral part of CBP. In his vision, IA would interact with every level and function of the organization.

“Part of establishing a culture of integrity is to create an environment where there is an opportunity to learn and develop, where self-expression, responsibility, respect and dedication to the greater good are encouraged and reinforced,” Tomsheck said. He recognizes that integrity is not an easy topic of conversation but hopes to foster a mindset where employees feel comfortable bringing up and discussing issues of honor and honesty.

A Lifetime’s Work
Tomsheck is amiable and gives a first impression of outward calm, but a glimpse of his inner intensity emerges when he speaks of his family and his values. Asked to define himself he pauses briefly and says, “ I am a father, a husband, a law enforcement professional.” In fact, Tomsheck cites his family and his two children as his finest achievement and his greatest joy.

As a high school student in Nebraska, he followed his interests and joined the Omaha Police Department’s Law Enforcement Explorer Program, a career education program that prepares young adults for the transition from academics to the world of work. Explorers get hands-on orientation to law enforcement and gain insight into the role that law enforcement plays in their communities. In the Explorer Program Tomsheck found positive law enforcement role models and opportunities to see the link between law enforcement and service to the community. He credits the program with putting him on course to make his dream a reality.

Tomsheck attended Creighton University and the University of Nebraska where he received a B.S. in Criminal Justice. In 1974, Tomsheck returned to the Omaha Police Department, this time as an officer, patrolling and working in the community in which he grew up. He worked there nearly nine years as a patrol officer, investigator, and as an undercover officer.

National Responsibilities
With an interest in all aspects of law enforcement, Tomsheck was always on the lookout for opportunities to broaden his experience and his impact. In late 1982, he applied to the Secret Service and was selected in April 1983. He began his federal career with the agency assigned to the Detroit field office. He held several varied positions with the Service including working in the Secret Service Forensic Services and in the Presidential Protective Division.

While working as the Secret Service Domicile Agent in Bellingham, Wash., Tomsheck was exposed to law enforcement in a northern border environment. He established a close working relationship with both customs and immigration representatives. Working on transnational organized crime issues, Tomsheck observed first hand the tasks facing border protection agencies.

His northern border experience grew when assigned to the Vancouver, B.C., Canada office as the resident agent-in-charge, and he also served as the Secret Service liaison to Western Canada. He continued to work on a wide array of cases and projects with customs and immigration personnel in Blaine, Wash. and the pre-clearance station in Vancouver.

Tomsheck moved down the coast and spent two years as the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco field office before moving east to the Secret Service Rowely Training Center in Laurel, Md. He was subsequently promoted to the position of special agent in charge of human resources and training. In 2002, he became the deputy assistant director of the Office of Government and Public Affairs. In 2003, he was assigned as a deputy assistant director in the Office of Investigations, the position he held until retiring from Secret Service and joining CBP.

A Partner for All of CBP
For many, internal affairs carries a negative perception and Tomsheck would like to change that view. “Internal Affairs is the touchstone for integrity, and the office should partner with the rest of the organization and act as a complement to programs throughout CBP.”

IA’s mission is critical, ensuring the integrity of individuals and processes. “Because of CBP’s mission it presents a high-threat environment. Those who would breach our borders illegally play a high stakes game and are willing to pay handsomely to further their business or ideological interests,” Tomsheck said. In hiring, testing, training or operating procedures, IA works to lessen vulnerabilities.

Tomsheck also would like to see IA working with other agencies that strive to ensure the integrity of the workforce, like the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General. “Working to ensure the integrity and incorruptibility of our workforce enhances our credibility in accomplishing our mission. It is critical,” Tomsheck said.