Sheriff's Office Newsletter - April 2022

March 2022 Newsletter (Volume 8, Issue 4)

To view each of the different stories in the newsletter, please click on the title below.

Note from Sheriff Torgerson

My thoughts as Spring has officially arrived and COVID-19 has loosened its grip on our society - it’s natural to itch for the outdoors more and enjoy the pleasant and warmer days ahead. We have new faces joining our ranks also with a fresh new look at how we can serve our communities. There is so much positive to look forward to I hope you will join us in making this “new dawn” as safe and welcoming as possible to all. Rest assured we are prepared to support you in all that we can. 

In this newsletter, you see the extensive work and training that has been done over the last several weeks of March so we are prepared for the worst of days, yet continue to hope for and work towards the best of days. 

Also saying goodbye to a long-time partner in Deputy Joe Wendt is a monumental point in my career. We lose an incredible amount of institutional knowledge with Joe walking out the door. Joe was as they say a “Cop’s cop.” He knew everyone and could remember details of situations many would not recall. Captain Schueller’s article really captures the essence of Deputy Joe Wendt. Best of luck and enjoy a long retirement, Joe.  Godspeed.  

Active Shooter Response Training

Captain Jon Jacobson

For six (6) days in the month of March, more than 400 personnel from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, Rochester Police Department, Rochester Fire Department and Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service trained together for a coordinated response to an active shooter incident. Responding to an incident like this has evolved over the years, with the attack at Columbine (CO) being a pivotal point in our history. Training and cross-training for each of our disciplines, including training in Incident Command Structure (ICS) and Unified Command, has greatly enhanced our response in order to save as many lives as possible should an active shooter event take place anywhere in Olmsted County and beyond. Many other agencies also participated in this training or observed in order to more effectively co-mingle our resources during an unthinkable event. This four-hour training (2 sessions per day) consisted of three breakouts; table-top for active shooter response, table-top for the incident and unified command and a drill for establishing safety corridors; followed by two live, full-scale exercises where participants put into action what they learned in the breakout sessions. Although our agencies work closely together daily during other types of calls, we rarely train together. This training provided opportunities for staff from all disciplines to collaborate with and help one another in a multitude of ways, which really strengthens our continued working relationship.

So, why do we train for something like this? An active shooter incident is one of the most devastating events that can happen to a community. It most certainly could be classified as a disaster because these types of incidents can overwhelm public safety resources at the local level very quickly and the effects are certainly long-lasting. Active shooter response used to be a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team operation, but we have discovered that too many victims were dying because of prolonged response times. Active shooter response then evolved to law enforcement patrol officers immediately entering the building to attempt to contain or neutralize the active shooter. We were still finding that a high number of victims were dying because we couldn’t get them the help they needed quickly enough. Today, our response to active shooter events evolve very rapidly to expanding to a multi-disciplinary response. Law enforcement is working closely with Fire and Medical personnel to triage, evacuate and transport injured victims as quickly as possible in what we call “Enter, Evaluate and Evacuate.”

How can the public train for an active shooter response? Preparation is always key to any type of disaster, natural or human-made. Maintaining awareness of your surroundings at all times is the first step. Being familiar with your workplace, school or wherever it is you happen to be is great preparation. Purposefully thinking about what you would do and how you would respond is the second. No one knows when bad things will happen. But you have a better chance of saving yourself and your loved ones if you do steps 1 and 2 repetitively. Understanding there is a process for you during an active shooter event (and you can apply these principles to any dangerous incident you might find yourself in), you will be ahead of the game. First, RUN. Get out immediately if you can safely do so. Second, HIDE. If you cannot get out, find a spot that will provide you cover (stops bullets) or at least concealment (does not stop bullets). Get in a room, close and lock the door. If you can’t lock it, block it. Stay away from windows. Turn the lights off and silence your cell phone. If you cannot hide, then FIGHT. Arm yourself with whatever you can find; chairs, tools, fire extinguishers and attack your attacker. Don’t fight fair…your life may depend on it.

Thank you to all the trainers from our agencies that planned for months and executed this training flawlessly. This is no small feat, and your leadership and guidance are appreciated. A special thank you to IRG Realty Advisors for allowing our agencies to hold this vital training at IBM. And to all the community members and family members of our first responders who volunteered to be actors for our training scenarios, your help is crucial in providing training as close to reality as we can get and how we must continue to modify our response for future training and actual incidents. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude! 

Deputy Joe Wendt Retired

Captain James Schueller

March 31, 2022 will be a sad day for the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, as that is the official retirement date of Deputy Joe Wendt. Joe attended SKILLS at Alexandria before starting with OCSO on January 4, 1988 (including a very memorable first shift briefing- you’d have to ask him about it) working permanent night shifts, prior to take-home squads, with his assigned Field Training Officer (FTO) Dave Rikhus. When Joe began, his duty gear consisted of a pistol, handcuffs, flashlight, and portable radio - quite a contrast to the amount of gear we carry today. Joe says that technology is the biggest change he has seen in his career, and credits that technology for higher levels of officer safety because of items like safety alerts and the ability to get data out to officers quickly. In addition to several rotations through Patrol over his 34-year career, Joe spent time in Warrants, Civil, Utility Deputy, Court Security, and Weapons Screening positions. My favorite memories of Joe were when he was assigned a Patrol power shift position, meaning that he had free reign to travel anywhere in the county to assist his fellow Deputies, and we referred to him and a select few others as NOMADS. There were many great calls during those days, including one where someone who had too much to drink tried to “water” Joe’s duty pistol with a garden hose… Joe estimates he worked for 17 different Sergeants over the years and was an Acting Duty Sergeant (ADS) for at least 8 of them. In addition to normal assigned duties, Joe was also a firearms instructor and armorer, a field training officer (FTO) for 14 years (training several past Captains!), as well as an Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVOC) instructor. Joe stated his best memory was performing CPR on a male that had coded while mowing his lawn and continuing CPR until Gold Cross Ambulance arrived with a defib and being successful in bringing him back to life. Joe said his goal when he started was that he and everyone he worked with would go home safe at the end of their shift, and that has always been the case in his 34 years with OCSO. When I sat down with Joe to talk about his time with OCSO, he was characteristically humble, saying, “It’s not about me, it’s about the job.” At the same time, Joe provided me with many great quotes, but space restrictions (and also some that maybe aren’t exactly safe to print) limit what I can share here. However, this one is worthy now more than ever: “A lot of negativity about Law Enforcement revolves around fear - fear is an emotion. Fear is a result of a lack of knowledge and ignorance. Educate yourself and the fear will go down. Take advantage of every training opportunity.”

In retirement, Joe and his wife Laurie will spend time traveling and seeing other parts of the country, as well as more time for him to hunt and fish. The number of staff Joe has trained, educated, backed on calls, and otherwise positively influenced includes about every single member of the OCSO since he started, including myself. Joe, you will be greatly missed and on behalf of every single one of your partners that you kept safe and helped get home over the last 34 years: thank you, be safe, and ENJOY the retirement you have so rightfully earned!

Institute for Credible Leadership (ICLD)

Congratulations to Detention Deputy Erik Ickler, Detective Heather Johns and Sergeant Taylor Schoenfelder for completing the Institute for Credible Leadership (ICLD) series. ICLD is leadership training offered through the MN Sheriff’s Association. It is a series of 46 college-level leadership development courses spanning 180 hours.

Monthly Snapshot: Active Shooter Response Training: Personnel Trained

Captain Jon Jacobson

Olmsted County Sheriff's Office - 85

Rochester Police Department - 142

Rochester Fire Department - 95

Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service - 74

Other Agency Personnel - 15

Total - 411

Date of Interest

April 1

Dover City Council Meeting

April 5

Elmira Township Meeting

High Forest Township Meeting

Olmsted County Board Meeting

April 7

Eyota City Council Meeting

Rochester Township Meeting

April 11

Chatfield City Council Meeting

Orion Township Meeting

Rock Dell Township Meeting

April 12

Byron City Council Meeting

Marion Township Meeting

New Haven Township Meeting

Stewartville City Council Meeting

April 14

Eyota City Council Meeting

Rochester Township Meeting

April 18

Eyota Township Meeting

Kalmar Township Meeting

Oronoco City Council Meeting

Rochester City Council Meeting

April 19

Farmington Township Meeting

Olmsted County Board Meeting

Pine Island City Council Meeting

April 20

Haverhill Township Meeting

April 25

Chatfield City Council Meeting

Viola Township Meeting

April 26

Byron City Council Meeting

Stewartville City Council Meeting

April 28

Dover Township Meeting

Eyota City Council Meeting

Olmsted County Fire Meeting

Olmsted County Township Association Meeting

Senior Administration

Sheriff

Kevin Torgerson

Chief Deputy of Law Enforcement Center

Terry Waletzki

Captains

Mike Bromberg

Jon Jacobson

Tim Parkin

James Schueller

Chris Wallace

Executive Assistant

Laura Collins

Chief Deputy of Adult Detention Center

Brian Howard

Captains

David Adams

Samantha Reps

Macey Tesmer