ST.

Thursday, December 07, 2000

ST. ANSGAR, Iowa – As they say in the movies, "There’s a new sheriff in town" – and he’s a teacher.

Lance Schutjer is St. Ansgar’s new police chief, the top law officer in the Mitchell County community.

With more than 1,000 residents, it’s the kind of place where everybody may know everybody.

Schutjer’s job, in part, is to ensure the public safety of all.

He replaces Rick Epstein, the former long-time police chief who was terminated from the position earlier this year.

"I would say I’m the type of police officer who believes in community policing," Schutjer said. "People working together in the community, that’s the way to go."

Schutjer is assisted in his new role by Dave Zacharias, a part-time officer.

During the interim between the former police chief’s dismissal and Schutjer’s hiring, Mitchell County Sheriff Curt Younker’s deputies helped cover the community in times of emergencies.

Schutjer, 36, and a native of Charles City, Iowa, is married. His wife Meg teaches middle school classes in the Osage Community School District.

The couple has four children: Dalton, 9, Jadyn, 7, Holbrook, 18 months, and Tanyon, 5 weeks.

He is the only law officer in his family’s history.

After graduating from Charles City High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Buena Vista College.

For a year, he was a substitute and then a full-time teacher in the Charles City area of Floyd County.

Then, he had a change of mind.

"When I was teaching, I decided to join the Charles City Police Reserve unit and I enjoyed it," he said. "I thought it brought out the best qualities in me and that I could use my teaching experience, interacting with people, on the job."

Schutjer went to college to study law enforcement and became a certified Iowa peace officer.

He was hired by the Charles City Police Department and did, indeed, combine his teaching experience on the job as the department’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer; a role he plans to bring to St. Ansgar Community Schools in the next school year.

Fifteen people applied for the St. Ansgar police chief’s job. After written and physical tests were given, the list was winnowed down to the top candidates and interviews were conducted.

Schutjer was the city’s choice and began his new duties as police chief Nov. 27.

While four children and a wife are his joy at home, off-the-job Schutjer also enjoys "fixing things" around the family’s home.

He is also a martial arts expert with 16 years of experience as student and teacher.

Leaving education for the rigors of public safety left no second thoughts on his mind. "It was a satisfying career choice. I enjoyed teaching, but being a police officer at Charles City, my hometown, was a good experience, too," he said. "When this opportunity came along to become a police chief, I couldn’t pass it up."

Big-city crime came to the countryside long ago and never left. Today, the same dangers that face urban officers have filtered into the rural areas and communities that, otherwise, were relatively immune.

A domestic abuse call could explode anywhere into a violent confrontation; semi-automatic weapons could be under the seat of the next vehicle stopped along the highway; and drugs, particularly the new scourge, methamphetamines, are sold in out-of-the-way bars and other places as well as cocaine and marijuana.

"Two people, Officer Zacharias and I, can’t do the job here alone," Schutjer said. "We can walk the streets, visit businesses, drive the car on patrol, visit schools and all the other things to be visible, but we need the citizens’ help."

"I welcome phone-in tips. I want to maintain an open-door policy at City Hall for anyone to come here and visit with me. When I visit businesses, I want to hear what’s on the minds of people," he said. "People can be part of the solution or part of the problem."

Schutjer hopes a visible presence in the community and later, a return to teaching the DARE curriculum in St. Ansgar schools, as well as his experience and professionalism will make the difference in the Mitchell County community.

"My philosophy is that in a small community or a large one, for that matter, my approach to policing is to help people who need help and to always do what you have to do and to know when discretion will work just as well as an arrest," he said.