O’Brien County, Iowa — The New Year brings with it many changes each year, but for O’Brien County’s Top Cop, it’ll bring a new chapter in his life.
O’Brien County Sheriff Allen Schuknecht will be retiring at the end of this month, capping off a forty-six-year law enforcement career, forty-four of which have been spent with the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office. Schuknecht talked with KIWA and told us about his long law enforcement career.
(As above) “I went to Western Iowa Tech, to the Police Science class, they had that down there, right out of high school. Then I came and worked for the Sanborn Police Department for two years and then was hired at the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office. I was a deputy for forty years and I’ve been Sheriff now for four.”
He talked about some of the changes he’s seen in the Sheriff’s Office over the past forty-four years.
As above) “Well, I think when I started there were just four deputies and the sheriff and now there’s eight deputies and the sheriff. But the volume of calls, even just recently, has just totally ballooned, it’s just increased so much…probably ten-fold. We’ve had so many more calls for service, our mental health (calls) are up, the civil process has ballooned…it’s just really increased the workload on everybody.”
Sheriff Schuknecht says the prevalence of methamphetamine in the area is another major change since he started his career.
(As above) “I think that’s really increased our workload, especially in the criminal part of it and the mental health, even just recently. We’ve had more stolen cars in the past two months than we’ve had…from the time when I started you’d have maybe one or two a year…and now it’s just been totally increased. I transported two subjects to prison this last week and I had an opportunity to talk to them, and you could sure tell that meth played a big part in their going to prison, from what they told me.”
Schuknecht says another change is the way technology impacts the way law enforcement officers do their job.
(As above) “Yeah, that’s for sure. We didn’t have cell phones, we didn’t have a computer, we didn’t have a computer in our office, so yes, that’s changed a ton. The technology…just keeping up with it is really hard. (Back then) you wrote the ticket and then you delivered it to the court. Now the officers do it on the computer, it’s scanned directly to the court and goes directly into the file for the judge. That’s changed dramatically.”
He says he’s looking forward to retirement and talked about his retirement plans.
(As above) “Well, I think initially here I’ll be chasing after grandkids. I have a son out in Colorado, I have a son in Detroit and a daughter in Avoca, Iowa, and six grandkids, so my wife, Janelle, and I will be visiting them. We haven’t had the opportunity to get out there as much as we would have liked to. I’m looking forward to that.”
Sheriff Schuknecht joined the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 1976 and became Sheriff when long-time Sheriff Mike Anderson retired. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2016 and will be retiring at the end of this month when newly-elected Sheriff Bruce Devereaux takes office.
