New Jasper Chief of Police sworn in
Jasper Clerk-Treasurer Kiersten Knies swore in Chad Dick as the city’s newest chief of police in a special ceremony Friday afternoon.
Dick’s mom, Sharon, held the bible bearing the Indiana State Police insignia for him as he took his oath. It had been gifted to him by a chaplain while Dick was in charge of a critical incident response team in Southern Indiana during his 25-year career as a state trooper.
The bible is special and so is the nearby cross adorned with the blue line down its horizontal bar. As he left the Indiana State Police Law Enforcement Academy for the final time Friday, he was gifted it by the director, Tim Horty. Horty had used scraps of wood from the academy to fashion the cross. As Dick was leaving Friday, Horty took it off the wall in his office and handed it to him.
His father, Richard, a former state trooper as well, was in the audience along with his family, friends, local law enforcement officers from the Jasper Police Department and Indiana State Police Jasper Post, former Jasper chiefs Rick Gunselman and Nathan Schmitt, and fellow cyclists and support crew of the Cops Cycling for Survivors annual bike ride across the state. It was a full room.
Dick retired as a trooper a few years ago, but after working in a new career as a compliance specialist for a national company, he missed the career he had spent his life in. When he had an opportunity to help the state develop standardized requirements across the seven law enforcement academies, he returned to his beloved profession. Unfortunately, it meant working in Indianapolis five days a week away from Jasper. However, he would try to return to Jasper on Wednesday evenings to help at Redemption Christian Church with the youth group he helped coach before turning around and heading back up to Indianapolis until the weekend.
When he applied for the position with the Jasper Police Department, he saw that as a way to be home and work in a highly regarded department.
“And when the opportunity came along, I thought, ‘Gosh, I could go home and serve my community with a great police department and hopefully make it even better,'” he said Friday after being sworn in.
During the ceremony, Mayor Dean Vonderheide admitted the city had several well-qualified applicants, but he felt Dick was a great choice for the position. “We have great officers and great leadership in Jasper,” he said, commending the department as it filled in while former Chief Schmitt was sidelined for a knee replacement.
“I’m humbled and honored to be here would be an understatement,” Dick said from the podium. “As the mayor said, I know every single person to put in for this position, and all of them are great leaders. So to be chosen from amongst those guys, to me, is a great honor.”
