Douglas County Sheriff counts down days to retirement, reflects on career

Dec. 23—SUPERIOR — On Jan. 3, Douglas County Sheriff Tom Dalbec, 57, will retire after 20 years as sheriff of Douglas County.

Dalbec is tied as the longest-serving sheriff with Fred Johnson, who served from 1969-1988. Adding in his time in the U.S. Air Force, the Minnesota Air National Guard and the Superior Police Department, the Superior native has totaled 37 years of service to his country and community. He'll retire nine days shy of a 32-year career in law enforcement.

What will he be remembered for? As he's been getting closer to retirement, Dalbec said area residents have come up to thank him for being a good sheriff. Many have said they appreciate that he kept the office and his people out of the media spotlight during that time.

"My philosophy from day one has always been if we have a problem, and especially if it's more of a serious problem, or a potential newsworthy problem, just deal with it," Dalbec said. "Don't ignore it, don't try to sweep it under the rug, don't try to pretend that it doesn't exist. Just deal with it ... face it head on, take care of the problem."

That has included being proactive by offering the training and tools needed to get the job done.

After winning the 2002 primary against five other Democratic opponents, Dalbec stepped into an office in flux. The Government Center was in the final stages of completion. Dalbec became sheriff in January 2003, finished moving the sheriff's office to the new building that July and brought the jail over three months later.

Dalbec was in charge of staffing the new jail, as well, a move that roughly doubled the size of the department. Over the years, jail staffing would continue to be his biggest challenge.

"Twenty years now as sheriff, I think there's maybe been two times in 20 years where we've had total, full staffing of the jail for at least one month. We're always, always hiring; always shorthanded," Dalbec said.

Dalbec steered the department into the digital age, as well.

"When I started on the police department, we still typed reports on the typewriter on paper and we had our arrest blotter and our traffic citation blotter sitting on the desk ... All of the arrest records, everything was all handwritten," Dalbec said.

The biggest change over 20 years has been the technology, which went from analog to digital, with computers now in every squad vehicle.

The move should have been a natural for Dalbec, who attended Northwood Technical College, then WITC, for computer programming after his military service. He never did use that associates degree because he joined the police department six months later.

As sheriff, he secured federal funding from then-congressman Dave Obey to pay for the department's initial laptop computer purchase. He also brought in roughly $1.3 million in federal funding to upgrade the office's radio system, which is separate from the WISCOM system used by the Superior Police Department and Douglas County Emergency Management.

"One of the biggest reasons I wanted to keep our system is because we have control over it," Dalbec said.

When asked if there was a standout moment during his career, Dalbec picked a chance encounter in a bar. A man came up to him and asked if he was in law enforcement. They got to talking and Dalbec was able to place him.

As a Superior Police Officer, Dalbec was called out to the man's home several times a week for incidents involving the man, who was a teen at the time, and his mother. Each time, Dalbec would help them work out a way to move on for the rest of the day. One afternoon, they even invited him to dinner.

Fast forward to the bar. The man shook Dalbec's hand and thanked him for treating them fairly, for taking the time to listen. He bought the sheriff a beer, and they clinked their bottles. He told Dalbec about his life, his job, his new apartment. The man died in an industrial accident less than a year later, Dalbec said, but that meeting made an impact.

"It was nice to hear from him. He took the time and effort to come and talk to me and thank me," the sheriff said.

The majority of Dalbec's one-on-one contacts with the public are less positive. Since taking office, the sheriff has made it his responsibility to deliver death notifications.

"I started doing that when I became sheriff. Most of the time it's usually when somebody dies, like in a car accident which usually is 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning ... I don't want to burden my deputies with having to deal with that," Dalbec said.

Dalbec could have retired instead of running for the office in 2018, but said he wasn't ready to hang it up then.

Now it's time.

"I can feel it," he said.

Although Dalbec is retiring, Chief Deputy Jerry Moe will remain in the office. Moe was Dalbec's afternoon patrol sergeant when he started working in law enforcement. Sheriff-elect Matt Izzard will be the seventh sheriff Moe has worked for.

Dalbec said he'll miss the office camaraderie most of all.

"Coming in here, stop and chat with Jerry or whoever's in ... just sitting down and getting caught up on the latest — the latest and greatest," the sheriff said.

He'll miss checking in to see how Moe's son is settling into college life, or stopping by Detective Jim Madden's office to discuss what the Milwaukee Brewers need to do to make themselves a winning team.

The day-to-day interactions and the practical jokes will be missed. But, Dalbec said, he's looking forward to retirement. His plans include spending summers on a pontoon boat in Wascott with his wife, Lesa. The rest is a blank canvas.

"If I decide to do something, it's gonna be on my terms," Dalbec said. "I have a couple of options that I'm looking at, but nothing's etched in stone."

He purposely chose not to get his required 24 hours of state mandated training this year, which means his law enforcement certification will lapse.

The sheriff has been cleaning out his office bookshelf and sharing memories through

his Facebook page

as retirement looms. He was asked what he'd like to let residents know.

"Maybe a big thank you. Thank you for letting me be your sheriff for 20 years," Dalbec said. "I've done what I feel is my best to make sure the sheriff's office has performed up to their expectations — the residents' — and they'll be in good hands when Matt takes over."