Dekkenga logs 30 years with Le Mars Police Department

(Sentinel photo by Beverly Van Buskirk) Le Mars Police Chief Stu Dekkenga has collected a number of pieces of law enforcement memorabilia, including some from the Le Mars Department. He points to a picture of the 1908 Le Mars police force. Only one of the five men, Harry Fitzpatrick (upper right) is identified. Another picture is of former chief Joe Sutton, and former officer James Mohan, a member of the force in 1885. The framed flag was presented to him on his 25th anniversary with the force, and was flown over the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. [Click to enlarge]

"Absolutely everything," Dekkenga said about changes he has seen.

"The only thing that hasn't changed is the actual work we do. Everything else around it has, the way we do it, the tools we use to do it, and the cars have changed," he said.

"Technology is a huge one."

When he started with the force 30 years ago, there were no cell phones, no computers, Internet or e-mail, no fax machines and police cars were equipped with just three boxes.

Dekkenga explained there was a box with three switches for the top lights, a box with four buttons for the radio, and a box below that with a button for the siren.

"That was it," he said. "No one carried a walkie-talkie. There were no channels on the radio. Now look at a police car today."

Computers have added so much to the job, according to Dekkenga, but along with that comes the learning curve on how to use it.

"The car is basically a car," he said. When he started his job in Le Mars, there were no screens behind the front seat, with the person arrested often sitting in the front with the officer.

"Now it's against the rules to do that," Dekkenga said.

Another change? More laws. When he started, there were three volumes to the Iowa Code. Now there are six.

"We have added a lot more laws," Dekkenga said.

Keeping up with the changes takes a lot of research on a regular basis.

"Every time the Attorney General's office offers a training session, we make sure we get somebody to that," he said. The county attorney also helps the department keep up with the laws and changes.

In 1979, the police department was located in a building in the 100 block of Central Avenue Northwest, now home to The Turn Around, a dance and gymnastics studio. There were three jail cells, which were also used by the county at that time. City Hall offices were located on the second floor.

"The whole station was maybe two rooms, plus we had the three jail cells," Dekkenga said. "We were the county jail and dispatch at night, too."

If those arrested needed to stay in jail more than overnight, they were taken to either the Sioux or Cherokee County jail.

In 1981, the police department, city hall offices and fire department moved to the current location due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which said all government offices needed to be handicapped accessible.

With no jail accommodations, the county had to re-open the jail facilities located on the courthouse block.

"There was a short time when Plymouth County had no jail," Dekkenga recalled. "I think we did a lot of 'cite and release' type of acts then. We wouldn't be able to that now."

Back then, Dekkenga said, "Most of the people we dealt with were community residents. That's not the case any more. Now we're a much more mobile society."

Dekkenga doesn't talk much about past cases.

"Some I'll never forget, but I don't talk about them," he said. "Some I think about every day."

When asked about the Julie Baack who disappeared in 1992 and whose body was later recovered several years later, Dekkenga said it "was a real frustrating case."

"It was very frustrating for the family and for us too," he said. "We kept going at it, following up leads, and it all came together in the end" when an arrest and sentencing was made.

That case was the first investigation where the Le Mars Police Department worked with DNA evidence.

"At that time, all of our DNA evidence had to be sent to New Jersey. It was gone for literally months before we had answers," Dekkenga said.

Now, DNA evidence is sent to the state crime lab in Ankeny.

"They generally have an answer for us in a week,"Dekkenga said. "That's a pretty significant change."

In 1979, there were 12 officers on the force, today there are 14.

Dekkenga points out that while the population of Le Mars hasn't increased greatly, the town has developed in all directions with business, industry and housing. That means more area to patrol.

Dekkenga came to Le Mars from a police job in Onawa.

"Le Mars was a bigger community and had a larger police department," Dekkenga said of the move. "The pay was better, too."

He was hired by then chief Wilbur Petersen, and began approximately five years of straight night shifts.

After a few years that schedule changed, with everyone working a rotating schedule.

He was appointed police chief in 1995 following the retirement of Lawrence "Casey" Stengel.

"This is a good place to work and a good community to live in," Dekkenga said, "and I've worked with a bunch of really good people over the years."

Of the 14 officers on the force, 10 have been with the department 20 years or more. There has been no turnover of officers in five years.

"I have really been blessed to have the opportunity to do what I do and to be able to work with the people I have," Dekkenga said.