Sibley, Iowa — Osceola County Sheriff Dog Weber will be hanging up his badge and gun at the end of this month and turning over the reigns at the Sheriff’s Office to current Chief Deputy and newly-elected Sheriff, Kevin Wollmuth.
KIWA talked with Sheriff Weber and asked him about some of the changes he’s seen in the law enforcement field over his 40-plus-year career.
(As above) “There’s been tremendous changes. I mean we’re looking over four decades, I started the latter part of the 70’s…through the 80’s and 90’s. There have just been tremendous changes. When I started, if we had a fingerprint we needed a suspect to compare it to and you did it all manually. Now everything is computerized. Same, you know, with all the development of DNA…and that keeps growing, they keep coming out with new technology, now they even have Touch DNA…that was unheard of back when I started.”
He talked about some other big changes, as well.
(As above) “Just our work with domestic violence. Back in the day we would just try to resolve it, now there are mandatory arrests…more awareness, more things for officers to look for and investigate and that sort of thing. The changes have just been tremendous. The body cams are huge…I remember when we first got in-car cameras, I didn’t have that when I started. All that just helps collect evidence and do a better job.”
Sheriff Weber also noted the differences in how officers do paperwork between the time he started and today, particularly in issuing traffic tickets.
(As above) “Now they scan the license and it’s all computerized and sent through the internet. But we had to write it and look it up manually and that sort of thing. And the same thing with accident reports, if you covered an accident you had to write it all out.”
He talked about some of his best memories with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
(As above) “Interacting with my staff. You make some good friends on your staff. And, you know, helping people and resolving cases and that sort of thing.”
Although Sheriff Weber will no longer be going to the Sheriff’s Office every day, he says he’s pretty sure he’ll be able to keep busy in retirement.
(As above) “Well, I have a lot of extracurricular activities, the problem is they all cost money. I like to travel with my wife, Patsy. I’ll be going hunting and fishing. I like primitive camping, I like woodworking, I do some musical things. I have lots of interests, so I’ll keep busy, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
The almost 65-year-old Weber began his law enforcement career in May of 1978 as an officer with the Sanborn Police Department. In April of 1979 he became a deputy with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, and was elected Sheriff in 2004, going on to serve four 4-year terms before announcing his intention to not seek re-election in 2020 and retire at the end of the year.
Photo courtesy of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office
