By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
At the beginning of October, the Northfield Police Department made a leadership transition by welcoming in new Police Chief Jeff Schroepfer. Last week, the chief talked on the KYMN Morning Show for the first time, and it was an opportunity to meet the department’s new leader. Schroepfer grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota past New Ulm and, during high school, became interested in being a police officer. After attending the police academy in Alexandria, Schroepfer worked in the Springfield Police Department and then later Meeker County Sheriff’s Office. While working in the Sheriff’s Office, he had the opportunity to work with several State Patrol officers and became interested in joining the service.
At the State Patrol, Schroepfer worked in the East Metro District and worked his way up to being a Captain, serving as one of Minnesota’s eleven district commanders. As leader of the East Metro District, Schroepfer led a team of 80 officers and staff, a department considerably larger than Northfield’s Police Department. However, getting back to his small-town roots is one of the reasons that Schroepfer wanted to come to Northfield.
“OK, it’s time for a change for me as well, especially being a small town kid. It’s time to go back to my roots and do something a little more community involved because. To be truly honest, it’s one of those in the State Patrol you don’t really have that community feel. Yeah, which I missed. “ – Northfield Police Chief Jeff Schroepfer on the KYMN Morning Show
(Picture: Schroepfer being sworn in by Northfield City Clerk Lynette Peterson. Credit Logan Wells).
He thanked his fellow officers and the community for welcoming him to town.
I’ll get emails or phone calls. Hey, can we meet with you about this or that? And it’s just it’s a great feeling as well because the the community truly wants to be involved and they want to be and and very influenced influential of their Police Department, which is great. – Northfield Police Chief Jeff Schroepfer on the KYMN Morning Show
Schroepfer stated that in his few weeks as Chief, he believes that the Northfield Police Department is in good shape. You can listen to his full interview here.
