Public Safety Tribute: Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
The week of October 22, The Merrill Foto News published a special section as a Tribute to Public Safety: thanking all of the men and women of our local public safety agencies for their ongoing dedication to safeguarding the health and safety of all Lincoln County residents. On behalf of the Merrill Foto News and the Merrill Community, a heartfelt Thank You to the men and women of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Patrol Deputies are responsible for patrolling all portions of Lincoln County. Dispatch provides services to: LISO, Merrill PD, Tomahawk PD on overnights and weekends and handles all 911 calls county-wide. Additional agencies dispatched include: Corning, Merrill, Pine River, Russell and Tomahawk fire departments; Merrill EMS, Tomahawk EMS, Corning First Responders, Pine River First Responders and Russell First Responders. In 2017 the dispatch center handled 22,053 calls for service.
In order to reach the entire county through ever-changing weather conditions, the Sheriff’s Office uses sedans as well as four wheel drive SUV’s for patrol work. Each patrol unit is equipped with mobile data computer that provides call information, and digital mapping of the entire county. The Rec. Deputy is equipped with a four-wheel drive pickup truck, an ATV, a rescue sled, a boat and diving equipment. The SRT Team utilizes a mobile command trailer and four-wheel drive pickup truck to tow it along with a Bear Cat rescue vehicle which was newly obtained thanks to a grant from the Bierman Family Foundation.
We endeavor to recruit new employees who have the best training and experience. Members of the Sheriff’s Office, through their job performance or interest in a field, may go on for additional training or assignments including DARE Officers, SRT Members, Investigators, Drug Unit, EVOC Instructor, traffic safety specialist, field training officers, firearms instructor, honor guard, or other unit specific training.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office employees strive to serve the community through effective and professional law enforcement. We recognize that we must always have the public’s trust in order to truly be effective. Historically we have been able to use our proactive approach to reduce fatal crashes by using a variety of enforcement tools including removing impaired and aggressive drivers from the roadway. Our drug unit continues to diligently and aggressively address the manufacture and sales of illegal drugs in Lincoln County. With strong leadership and a determined group of employees this agency continues to provide effective response and handling of incidents through the county as we work with fellow emergency service agencies and the public to provide a safe and secure environment to live, work and play.
Personnel: (years of service)
Sheriff Jeff Jaeger (38 years);
Chief Deputy: Nate Walrath (15).
Patrol Division:
Lt. Grant Peterson (25), Lt. Ken Schneider (28), Lt. Tyler Iverson (12), Lt. Andy VanderWyst (14)
Deputy James Gehris (6), Deputy Brian Haffeman (28), Deputy Holly Steckbauer (7), Deputy Dan Heisel (23), Deputy Reed Lazarz (15), Deputy Blade Mikula (4), Deputy Andy Schmidt (11), Deputy Sam Steckbauer (10), Deputy Mike Sundquist (14), Deputy Travis Watruba (12), Deputy Jared Parr (3), Deputy Jesse Parr (3), Deputy Michael Remington (3), Deputy Joel Prahl (3), Deputy Logan Lange (5), Deputy Corey Brehmer (2), Deputy Robert Retallick (1), Deputy Charles Hessil (<1), K9 Nina (2), K9 Poncho (2).
Detective Bureau:
Lt. Chad Collinsworth (11)
Sergeant Investigators: Tom Barker (14), Roger Sir (9), Brian Kingsley (26), Randy Ruleau (11), Kevin Orzech (18).
Corrections Division:
Supervisor: Jail Administrator Dave Manninen (21)
Jail Sergeants: Jodi Fitzke (16), Ivy Janak (9), Nicholas Hoeft (7);
Corrections Officers: Garrett Dinges (20), Stacey Haring (15), Tim Kurtz (9), Amber Gorell (17), Jason Meister (14), Jordan Oelke (4), Pamela Steffenhagen (24), Nicole Cibulka (4), Daniel Kriese (4), Tyler Kopetzky (4), Treasure Bergman (2), Amanda Bartz (3), Jacob Boyer (2), Michael Tuley (2), Daniel Rodriguez (1), Raymond Albert (<1), Matthew Poetzel (<1), Gilbarto Diez (<1).
Communications Supervisor: Lt. Tim Fischer (24); Communications Officers: Rhonda Bacher (11), Michael Caylor (24), Kevin Haring (23), Anne Wood (18), Mary Smith (16), Crystal Soderlund (16), Christine Turner (16), Tina White (18), Andrew Grawien (3), Michelle Denton (<1).
Clerical Staff: Program assistant Julie Strassman (2), Admin Secretary Stevie Klockziem (1), Confidential Secretary Kari Weiland (11), Collections Specialist/Business Manager Stacy Bethel (3).
Civilian Trip Team: Dennis Hintze (20), Dale Knapp (6), Dennis Krenzke (11), Randall Osness (8), Brian Sladek (6), Jeff Kraft (6).