History of The Annandale Police Department
Presentation to the Annandale History Club
October 1, 2012
Jeff Herr, Annandale Police Chief

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The current Chief of Police for the Annandale Police Department is Jeff Herr.

Chief Herr was hired and appointed as an Annandale Police Officer in 1992 after serving two years as an officer with the Goodview Police Department. He was hired by then Police Chief Myron Morris. At the time he started they had a two room office in the old City Hall, which was formerly Annandale's school building which had been built in 1888. His interview took place in the City council chambers; as an extension of the interview Chief Morris took him out for lunch at the Frontier Cafe.

In 1992 the Annandale Police Department included Chief Myron Morris, Jeff Herr and three part-time officers. At that time Herr said the police department answered 500 calls for service that year. At the present time, APD is answering approximately 3,000 calls for service per year. The current staffing is five full-time officers, eight part-time officers and a part-time secretary.

In 2000, when Police Chief Myron Morris retired, he recommended then Sgt. Jeff Herr as his replacement, and he was appointed to this position. Jeff Herr said, "The Annandale Police Department is a very friendly and service orientated police department where officers pay great attention to detail and follow up with citizen complaints." He said, "It is important to deal with the little things so they don't become big things," and that the Annandale Police Department has excellent tools, equipment and resources to do just that.

In 2002 a new city hall was built and the police department is currently located in this building.

Chief Herr was honored on April 2, 2012, for 20 years of service with the city. He is in the process of documenting the history of the department.

Some aspects of police work include patrol, investigation, narcotics, school resource officer, training and clerical.

Patrol:  Officers all start on patrol. Each officer has the ability to work their cases from the initial call all the way through the interviews and investigation.  We often use part-time patrol officers to cover shifts, whether it be vacation for a full-time officer or a special event such as the 4^th of July celebration. Currents shifts are between 8 and 11.5 hours.

Investigation:  Every case is not cleared in one day so cases are prioritized.  The largest case in Chief Herr's 20 years with the department was the DeVan Hawkinson homicide in March 2011. Herr said the Hawkinson homicide was worked for several months.  After the investigation the trial started and continued for several months after.  Chief Herr recalled testifying for several hours during the Grand Jury which came back with an indictment for murder. He again testified for the trial where a guilty verdict was determined.

Chief Herr and Wright County Detective Mike Lindquist were the lead detectives on the Hawkinson case. The Annandale officers investigate all of our felonies, some of which we reach out for assistance on from the Wright County Sheriff's Office. The request for assistance is based on the resources and needs of the case. Herr believes that by working all of our cases, the Annandale officers are able to stay on top of crimes in our area and investigate immediately before details are lost.

School Resource Officer: Officer Nancy Engfer, a 20-year employee of the Annandale Police Department, was for many years the School Resource Officer, where her interaction with the students helped solve problems and also helped avoid problems.  She worked at the school full time and spent three months in the summer working narcotics.  Because the program had lost school funding, the position of School Resource Officer ended in 2008.  Jeff Herr also mentioned Jim Rudolph, who volunteered in the schools for 19 years. Rudolph was the eyes and ears of the school before this program was initiated and he was affectionately known by the students and staff as "the Sheriff". After funding returned in 2014, the SRO program was re-instated and the current officer assigned is Peter Standafer.

Narcotics:  Chief Herr said that people will find ways to abuse drugs and that meth users and possible labs are in the county. The Annandale Police Department works our narcotics cases on a priority basis and also works closely with the Wright County Special Investigation Unit (SIU). Annandale Officers investigate narcotics cases, draft and execute search warrants.

Herr talked about how the department, in the past, instituted a trained, black lab, detector dog, by the name of "Tucker" who would assist on search warrants and traffic stops when requested. Tucker was retired after having hip problems. He was not replaced in the department, and when a K-9 unit is needed one is called in from an assisting agency.

Training: Chief Herr often teaches classes at the training center in Annandale. This facility was built to provide training to our police and fire department in the city of Annandale.  Jeff Herr said, "It's all about saving lives." Officers are trained in use of force, defense tactics, firearms, active shooter training, domestic response, and medical training to save lives.  The training center has various resources from a padded "red man" suit to protect the trainer during contact training to a small house which was moved on site for entry training to simulate a real life environment.

Clerical: Accurate reports are part of an officer's job. In addition there is a part-time Administrative Assistant who provides office management, incident overview and court management for chargeable offenses, along with greeting the public via phone and in person.

Equipment:  The Annandale Police Department's first Taser was acquired in 2003.  Jeff Herr said that the officers need to communicate with people and know when the use of the Taser is necessary.  They also have the ability to use less lethal shotguns and launchers which can be used to impact a suspect with a knife, thus knocking the air out of an aggressor, which may save his/her life.  The police department has rifles in their squads which were donated by SLR-15 rifles Inc.  The department has a speed trailer which can be placed at various locations around the city to make drivers more aware of their speeds.  Our squad cars are equipped with video systems which capture 90% of actions, and audio is collected through the use of a lapel microphone.

Uniforms:  Former Police Chief John Monk chose dark blue for the police uniforms and also designed the patch used on the uniforms to this date.

Community Programs:  In 2003 Officer Nancy Engfer received training for D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), a police officer led program in schools.  The program was beneficial, but was suspended for financial reasons.

The Annandale Police Department participates in National Night Out, Neighborhood Watch and Operation Identification.

The Annandale Police Department has a Bike Rodeo, formerly sponsored by Lakedale Telephone Company (before the company was sold).  In 2012 David Burd at State Farm Insurance Company sponsored the Bike Rodeo.

Demonstrations to Cub Scouts include aspects of police work, including fingerprinting and footprint casting.

Vehicle Fleet:  The first Annandale Police squads were red, white and blue with the words "Protect and Serve."  The squad color was changed to solid white.  The Annandale police cars are now the traditional black and white.  The present vehicle fleet includes two squad cars and a SUV.  Some of the funding for the SUV was through drug forfeiture money.

Training Center:  Annandale had only a small 20'x20' outdoor shoothouse, built in 1998 for live fire entry training.  A new police training center was built in 2000 at a cost of $279,000.  At the time there was only one other training facility in the state, located in Hutchinson.  The Annandale training center is a revenue generating facility used by about 45 other departments each year.  After a two-day shoothouse instructor class, outside departments can rent the training facility for $450 a day, plus the cost of ammunition and targets.  A side benefit to the community is that the visitors use local hotels and restaurants.  A small residential house for training was donated and moved by Jim Schwebel.  The Annandale Fire Department also uses the house and training center for training.

Annandale Police Chiefs:

? - 1969	George Ryti
1969 - 1977	Richard Elliot
1977 - 1987	William Ledwein
1988 - 1991	John Monk
1991 - 2000	Myron Morris
2000 - 2020	Jeff Herr
2020 -	Pete Standafer

On May 20, 2006, Chief Herr attended Peace Officers Memorial Day, where former Annandale Police Chief George Ryti (1905-1977) was honored along with other Minnesota officers killed in the line of duty. 

"Chief Ryti heard a call broadcasted of a drunk driver driving without headlights.  As he was responding to the area, he was broadsided by this vehicle.  Chief Ryti was seriously injured in a car accident on December 26, 1969, and died from his injuries on September 16, 1977."  - Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association.

Notes by Annandale History Club Secretary