Sheriff's Office Newsletter - March 2022

March 2022 Newsletter (Volume 8, Issue 3)

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

Note from Sheriff Torgerson

Thank you to all who plunged at the 21st Annual Rochester Polar Plunge for Special Olympics on February 12th. There were 663 brave plungers who raised over $230,000 and counting.  And of course, to all who pledged a plunger, you are heroes too! Thank you.  

We will see you again next year on February 11th, 2023!

We're Hiring

The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office is in search of Detention Deputies and licensed Peace
Officers. People with integrity, character and the ethical drive to serve with compassion and positively change lives. We’re regularly hiring both Detention and Law Enforcement staff.

New K9/Handler Selection and Training

Sergeant Ryan Mangan

When there is an opening for a K9 handler on the K9 unit, there is a selection process. The process starts with a memo sent out to deputies advising them of an opening. Interested deputies turn in a letter of interest explaining their qualifications for the handler position, then there is a panel interview where K9-based questions are scored and then a practical exercise is evaluated. The total scores are tallied, and the candidates are ranked based on their scores in the process. The position is offered to the candidate that is ranked number one. Then, a new K9 is selected, purchased and issued to the new K9 handler. 

The training of a new K9 starts as soon as they are purchased and brought home. 

Our newest K9, Ragnar is from Hungary and was purchased from a police dog vendor in the United States.  Ragnar came home to Olmsted County at the end of October 2021. The initial, in-house training involves positive, reward (food) based training. K9 Ragnar only eats from the handler/trainer’s hands for most of the initial training. The initial training consists of bonding, engagement, focus work, change of positions while creating value and familiarization with training equipment.  A lot of the initial work is done on a K9 treadmill that is designed to contain the K9 to enable success in certain areas of the training process. Once certain aspects of the initial training are understood by both the handler and K9, more tasks are trained. Those training topics include, but aren’t limited to, teaching the dog leash pressure, rear-end awareness and verbal/non-verbal commands. The initial process involves hundreds of repetitions to ensure that the K9 (and handler) understands what is being taught and expected. This initial training was just over 3 months long with K9 Ragnar, who then went to attend K9 school at the St Paul Police K9 Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

The St. Paul Police K9 Academy is a highly respected K9 academy that is offered in the Spring of every year.  The academy is approximately 4 months long and builds upon and advances the initial training the K9 team has. The training will continue with teaching the K9 new tasks by building upon what the K9 already knows either by training and/or instincts. At the start of the academy, the K9 team will be introduced and trained in the basic areas of patrol work and certification. These include control/obedience, agility, evidence recovery, building/area searches, tracking, criminal apprehension, and narcotics detection. At the conclusion of the academy, the K9 team will graduate from the academy as a K9 team that is trained and certified to do patrol work, including narcotic detection and they will come home and patrol the County of Olmsted and surrounding areas.  

The training does not stop once the academy is complete. There is monthly K9 unit training that is conducted in-house that helps the K9 team obtain the minimum 16 hours of required training per month. There are also yearly United States Police Canine Association certifications that must be passed that include narcotics detection and patrol work. The training continues for the remainder of the K9’s career, which is around 8 years.

Polar Plunge

Another successful Plunge for Special Olympics! 663 plungers raised $230,000.

The Polar Plunge is intended to raise money and awareness for those living in our community that has a developmental disability. Rochester is the second-largest polar plunge in MN out of 24 plunge locations. They are second only to Minneapolis.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time, gathered donations and subjected themselves to the frigid water on February 11th.

Olmsted County Prescription Drug Drop Box

Captain Mike Bromberg

Did you know that there is a safe location in Rochester to drop off your unused and expired prescription drugs? The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office manages a Prescription Drug Collection Box located at the Government Center for everyone in Olmsted County. The secure box is in the vestibule (front entrance) of the Adult Detention Center and is accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a week. To make it easier there’s been a FREE parking spot designated for those needing to use the drop box.

The primary reason for the Prescription Drug Drop Box is to give people a safe place to dispose of narcotics and other dangerous medications. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioids rose from 3,442 in 1999 to 17,029 in 2017. From 2017 to 2019, the number of deaths declined to 14,139, followed by an increase to 16,416 in 2020.”

Another thing to remember when using the drop box? It’s meant for prescription drugs (pills prescribed by a doctor). Some items can simply be disposed of in your household trash like over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, supplements, creams, empty bottles, and liquids. If you have prescribed drugs in cream/liquid form, or have other questions about bringing items to the drop box, please message us online.

Unfortunately, most items being placed into the drop box are not prescription medications. Why is this a big deal? Members of our staff must spend time separating prescription drugs from household trash that’s been dropped off. The sorting must be done for disposal and reporting reasons.

Prescription drugs can be dangerous. Properly disposing of unused or expired prescriptions can help prevent drug abuse, protect children and pets, reduce avoidable poisonings, preserve the environment, and protect your privacy. Please dispose of your unused and expired prescription drugs properly.

K9 Deputy Deployments 2/1/21 – 2/1/22

Sergeant Ryan Mangan

Numerous public K9 demos

8 - Burglary/Criminal Damage to Property/Suspicious Circumstances

4 - Assault/Domestic Assault

10 - Traffic Stops

17 - Search Warrants/Warrants

12 - Drug Searches

77 - Total Deployments

SE MN Violent Crime Enforcement Team 2021 Statistics

Captain Mike Bromberg

Number of Investigations - 187

Search Warrants Used - 64

Children involved in Investigations - 12

Cases involving Cocaine - 5

Cases involving Fentanyl - 2

Cases involving Marijuana - 8

Cases involving MDMA (Ecstasy - 1

Cases involving Methamphetamine - 31

Cases involving Mushrooms - 4

Cases involving Prescription Drugs - 6

Cases involving Synthetic Cathinone - 2

Drug Arrests for Sales - 17

Drug Arrests for Possession - 24

Demographics of Arrests

Male - 27

Female - 14

White - 28

Black - 7

Hispanic - 6

Under 18 - 1

Over 18 - 40

Dates of Interest

Note—these are regular dates—please verify these meetings are taking place as well as the forum they’ll be held in.

March 1

High Forest Township Meeting

Elmira Township Meeting

March 2

Salem Township Meeting

March 3

Dover City Council Meeting

Olmsted County Board Meeting

March 7

Cascade Township Meeting

Oronoco Township Meeting

Pleasant Grove Township Meeting

Quincy Township Meeting

Rochester City Council Meeting

March 8

Byron City Council Meeting

Marion Township Meeting

New Haven Township Meeting

Stewartville City Council Meeting

March 10

Eyota City Council Meeting

Rochester Township Meeting

March 14

Chatfield City Council Meeting

Orion Township Meeting

Rock Dell Township Meeting

March 15

Farmington Township Meeting

Olmsted County Board Meeting

Pine Island City Council Meeting

March 16

Haverhill Township Meeting

March 21

Eyota Township Meeting

Kalmar Township Meeting

Oronoco City Council Meeting

Rochester City Council Meeting

Seal Belt Championship

March 22

Byron City Council Meeting

Stewartville City Council Meeting

March 24

Eyota City Council Meeting

Olmsted County Fire Meeting

Olmsted Co. Township Assoc. Meeting

March 28

Chatfield City Council Meeting

Dover Township Meeting

Viola Township Meeting

Senior Administration

Sheriff

Kevin Torgerson

Chief Deputy of Adult Detention Center

Brian Howard

Captains

David Adams

Samantha Reps

Macey Tesmer

Chief Deputy of Law Enforcement Center

Terry Waletzki

Captains

Mike Bromberg

Jon Jacobson

Tim Parkin

James Schueller

Chris Wallace