January 2024 Newsletter (Volume 10, Issue 1)
January 2024 Newsletter (Volume 9, Issue 12)
Please click on the title below to view each of the different stories in the newsletter.
A Note from Sheriff Torgerson
We are taking a breath now that the holidays are over. It’s natural to look back on the year that was 2023 and forward to 2024. In recent weeks I’m again so proud of our staff and their families giving back to our communities in so many ways, ringing bells for Salvation Army throughout the season, Toys for Tots collections, sorting, and deliveries, Shop with a Cop was a huge success, and the Tip A Cop event are those highlighted here. There are many other ways our staffs supports the communities they live in year ‘round. I am always encouraged and proud of our staff but also the communities where we live and work. SE Minnesota in general gives back in countless ways to support all people.
The past year also brought a lot of change to our office and continues to be the norm as retirements of staff who started in our office as we grew in the middle to late 1990’s are now retiring. As an example, three retirements earlier this year created 21 position changes and promotions within two months! Unheard of before in our Office. Credit goes to the staff again for their flexibility and willingness to prepare for and work through change. It’s never easy.
The coming year looks to be setting up for more changes. Both the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted County have announced large building and infrastructure projects that will most certainly affect our Office in several ways for years to come. The planning begins this year. The biggest change affecting our Office is the Training Center finally getting a building with classrooms, offices and restrooms!! Along with features that will allow for multifaceted training to continue simultaneously. A great addition not only to Olmsted County public safety partners, but our region as well.
With that please look forward to future editions of this newsletter in 2024 for monthly updates as we look for more ways to reach out and engage you all.
I bid you all a happy and safe New Year!!
God bless.
Spreading Holiday Cheer
Captain Dave Adams
For over a decade the 7th Day Adventist Church of Rochester has been spreading peace and joy for the holiday season to the detainees of the Adult Detention Center. The youth group at the 7th Day Adventist Church decorate the bags with colorful holiday pictures, a personal message, and fill them with various candies, snacks, and literature. Church volunteers and detention center staff tour the housing units to distribute the decorated bags of treats and share well-wishes and good news to each detainee inside the facility. A welcome and appreciated event for those that are at a low point in their life, separated from family and friends.
Increased Accountability, Productivity, and Security through Technology
Captain Dave Adams
As we wind down the 2023 budget season and look towards 2024, the Adult Detention Center is looking forward to purchasing and implementing technology to increase accountability, productivity, and security.
The MN Department of Corrections requires detention facilities to have a system providing for well-being checks of detainees. “Written policy and procedure shall provide that all detainees are personally observed by a custody staff person at least once every 30 minutes. These thirty-minute checks should be staggered. More frequent observation is required for those detainees of a special need classification who may be harmful to themselves.”
The current hardware/software we use to meet this well-being check standard was purchased and implemented in 2011. This system essentially uses a small baton to time/date stamp when a wall mounted location device is touched – proving a ‘tour’ or walk through the housing unit to visually check every detainee in custody was conducted.
Since 2011, technology has evolved into handheld devices that do much more than well-being checks. New handheld devices verify the identity of an individual through both facial recognition as well as wristbands. They track headcounts and movement throughout the facility, account for high-risk items such as razors, ensure meals are distributed to each detainee, and provide a task list for staff to complete within a given shift (Post Orders) to increase both productivity and accountability.
Several agencies throughout the state have transitioned to handheld devices to conduct and prove well-being checks (as well as other tasks): Sherburne, Washington, Mille-Lacs, Crow Wing to name a few.
The result for the ADC will be thousands of dollars in cost and labor savings, per year, while achieving up-to-the-minute operational awareness and collaboration throughout the ADC. Utilizing modern handheld devices give us a powerful, real-time toolset that our entire staff can fully leverage to manage our detainee population more effectively. It ensures compliance with DOC standards, decreases liability, and increases staff accountability, efficiency, and productivity.
Toys for Tots
The Sheriff’s Office volunteered for the Toys For Tots campaign again this year. Toys For Tots is a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve charitable program and a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity that collects new and unwrapped toys and distributes them to less fortunate children at Christmas. They are the organization that places collection boxes around town for donated toys. The toys are sorted here in Rochester (for this region) for appropriate ages. In the last couple of years, over 30,000 toys were collected annually and sorted locally, which means each toy needed to be sorted and handed out. It takes a lot of volunteers to make this work, but the cause and effect are more than worth it.
Shop with a Cop
On December 9th, members of our office joined the Rochester Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies for the 20th annual #ShopWithACop!
Schools identified 66 kids to participate in this year’s Shop with a cop, and each received money to purchase presents for themselves and their family members. Deputies, troopers and officers were paired with kids to shop and have lunch together. Volunteers wrapped the gifts.
Special thanks to everyone who makes Shop with a Cop possible: Rochester Police Athletic/Activities League - PAL, the Rochester Police Benevolent Association, Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, Powers Ventures, Black Swan Living, Gillette, Pepsi, Walmart and Sam’s Club.
Tip-A-Cop
We had a great time helping support Special Olympics Minnesota and the Rochester Flyers - Special Olympics Team on December 14th for lunch and dinner at Glynner's Pub for the annual Tip-A-Cop event! Thanks to all who stopped by and donated!
Monthly Snapshot: Cheer to Detainees
Captain Dave Adams
7th Day Adventists decorate and deliver goodie bags twice a year: 4th of July and Christmas.
They have volunteered and participated in these 2 events for 14 years and have prepared and hand delivered well over 4,000 bags!
Dates of Interest
January 1
Oronoco Township Meeting
Pleasant Grove Township Meeting
Quincy Township Meeting
Rochester City Council Meeting
January 2
Elmira Township Meeting
High Forest Township Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
January 3
Salem Township Meeting
January 4
Dover City Council Meeting
January 8
Cascade Township Meeting
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Orion Township Meeting
Rock Dell Township Meeting
January 9
Byron City Council Meeting
Marion Township Meeting
New Haven Township Meeting
Stewartville City Council Meeting
January 11
Eyota City Council Meeting
Rochester Township Meeting
January 15
Eyota Township Meeting
Kalmar Township Meeting
Oronoco City Council Meeting
Rochester City Council Meeting
January 16
Farmington Township Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
Pine Island City Council Meeting
January 17
Haverhill Township Meeting
January 22
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Viola Township Meeting
January 23
Byron City Council Meeting
Stewartville City Council Meeting
January 25
Eyota City Council Meeting
Olmsted County Fire Meeting
Olmsted County Township Association Meeting
January 29
Dover Township Meeting
Senior Administration
Sheriff
Kevin Torgerson
Chief Deputy—LEC
Brian Howard
Captains
Jon Jacobson
Kelly Lee
Ryan Mangan
Tim Parkin
Chris Wallace
Executive Assistant
Laura Collins
Chief Deputy—ADC
James Schueller
Captains
David Adams
Samantha Reps
Macey Tesmer