Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Captain Rick Swanson Sandy Flategraff - ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS WWW.TWINCITIES.COM
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sonRCapt. Rick Swan
etirements chats with Sandy
u lategraff, a
(continued) dispatcher for the
Bmf
Eagan Police
Department.
for their know-how on various Swanson,who lans
specialties, from child-abuse P
investigation to transaction m to retire this fall,
frauds. .' joined the force in
Outer-ring suburbs that hit
1975.A career that
t 1 t
their growth spurts in the 1980sit began with driving
can look to big-sibling - seniors to bingo
Burnsville which became heavi- %za° y parties eventually put
ly developed throughout the {-��� � ..
fi, him in charge of 66
earlier decade. In the past six H`z officers.
years, two captains and all but
one of 11 sergeants have retired.
"The whole department is
turning over," said Burnsville
Police Chief Dave Farrington,
who will cap his 32-year career CRAIG BORCK,PIONEER PRESS
at the end of the month.
"It's not a bad thing,"said Far- 1970s, we saw such a thing as a, putes,drug incidents,thefts and third of Burnsville's patrol offi-
rington, 55. "We've hired highly community relations unit, the robberies increased. New inter- cers are female.
trained, enthusiastic young peo- notion of crime prevention and states made it easier for crimi- Most officers retire at ages 50
ple who are coming into the the idea that the public had a nals from the Twin Cities to to 55,old enough to draw public-
same profession because of their responsibility. These were new enter the south suburbs, Swan- employee pensions but young
idealism—the same reason why and innovative things back then." son said. enough to pursue other interests
the old guys and gals came here A simple action such as The influx of immigrants or a second career. Swanson,for
in the first place." repainting black-and-white from Somalia, Laos and Viet- one, looks forward to hunting,
Over the past 30 years,veter- squad cars entirely white was nam also threw in language and fishing and volunteer work.
an officers say they've helped just one symbol suggesting that cultural challenges.For the first Police administrators say the
pioneer a community-oriented police wanted to be considered time, officers found themselves vacancies will give new oppor-
style of policing,seen the advent part of the community,he added. communicating with children, tunities for younger officers to
of the wireless workplace and Veteran officers can marvel who understood English, about climb aboard. They're seeking
grown up with their cities. and chuckle when they think of their parents'transgressions. fresh ideas and technological
"They kind of blazed a trail how their departments have And work became more dan- savvy, things the younger set
for Dakota County," said Apple changed over the past three gerous. tends to have.
Valley Police Chief Scott John- decades. When Vonhof joined "The crooks were carrying Farrington calls the new hir-
son,who saw one of his own vet- Lakeville's force in 1980, the semiautomatic handguns, and ing and training"re-investing in
eran officers retire this month. department was housed in what the cops were the ones with the the future." About 125 college-
And, they were an idealistic, used to be a two-stall gas sta- six-shot revolvers," Swanson educated candidates recently
unique bunch. Old enough to tion, and the police radios said. applied for three starting-officer
have been shaped by the 1960s looked homemade. Police departments scram- positions.
— marked by urban unrest, "We had to handcuff people bled to catch up.They equipped "It's a young person's profes-
drug culture,anti-war sentiment to the doorknobs at the gas sta- their officers with more compet- sion,"Farrington said. "Being a
and a widespread distrust of the tion building," he said after a itive weapons and eventually cop on the street today is pretty
uniform — they entered law long laugh. "Escape was a high Tasers, which can shoot probes physical and very demanding
enforcement knowing its inher- possibility." that deliver a debilitating elec- psychologically. It's the next
ent challenges,Johnson said. One of Vonhof's first calls trical shock. generation's turn."
Farrington, for example, can was chasing a loose horse run- The agencies also have Lately, he's noticed that he
still remember a billboard that ning down a Lakeville street. replaced their old record sys- and other retirees-to-be are
used to hover over Interstate Community-service jobs tems—in Eagan,the files were spending their final, fleeting
494 and Interstate 35W. It were all part of the beat:pulling typed on 3-by-5 index cards — days beaming. They're
showed a uniformed officer giv- on the doors of businesses at with a trove of gadgets.In many indulging in thoughts of their
ing mouth-to-mouth resuscita- night,clearing dead Angus cows departments,officers can check future: the opportunity to
tion to a kid. The banner read, from Pilot Knob Road and driv- vehicle registrations,access the decompress after decades of
"Some call him`pig."" ing trouble-making teens home, Internet and lookup a suspect's strenuous work.
Because of that deep-seated officers say. driver's license from a wireless "It's like the yoke has been
suspicion of authority, law- "There wasn't really exciting laptop in the squad car. lifted, and it's OK," Farrington i
enforcement strategies mor- stuff at the time,but it was a real Departments also saw said."It's OK to let go."
phed about the time today's service to the community," said changes in their biggest asset—
retirees entered the field. Swanson,of Eagan."There were their people. When Farrington Laura Yuen covers Apple Valley
"We saw in the 1960s, that a lot of boring nights,actually." joined the Burnsville police and Eagan. She can be reached
`Dragnet'wasn't effective in solv- But as communities grew, force in the early 1970s,not one at lyuen@pioneerpress.com
ing crime,"Johnson said."In the the number of domestic dis- officer was a woman. Now, a or 651-228-5498.
SOUTHERN SUBURBS
Police
see
uptl*ck
111
number
• -
0
retirees
After 30 years, older
officers opting ollt
BY LAURA YUEN
Pioneer Press
Back then, Rick Swanson was
just a kid.So was the city of Eagan.
In 1975, the 20-year-old Swanson
landed a job with the city police
department, wanting to protect the
little hamlet where he was raised.
In the 29 years since,he's ascend-
ed the ranks while Eagan's popula-
tion exploded fourfold.A career that
began quietly with driving seniors
to bingo parties and checking on
homes of vacationing families even-
tually put Swanson, now a captain,
in charge of 66 sworn officers.
And it's a profession he'll leave
when he retires this fall.
"When it came to write that let-
ter,it was hard,"said Swanson,who
last month formally announced his
departure.
In the southern suburbs that
came of age in the 1970s and 1980s,
many of the young police rookies
who signed on to serve have since
ripened for retirement.A1t4ough it's
common for departments in older
cities to experience a cyclical exo-
dus, many younger Dakota County
cities are feeling the crunch for the
first time.
In Lakeville, for instance, three
officers out of 46 have retired in the
last year,said Lt.Tom Vonhof.
"You have 80 .years of WlirP