At the time, the Dodge County Sheriff was just starting out as a deputy on his first solo night patrol.

It was late afternoon on March 27, 1987. Hespen left his home on Rosedale Road, but due to blizzard conditions he only reached US Highway 77.

There, the deputy found several cars stuck at the highway intersection. The blizzard continued to stop more cars in their tracks, and Hespen spent the night escorting 50 people to a nearby farm.

“It was an initiation like no other,” he said.

This week, Hespen retired after a 35-year career with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.

From covering up accident scenes, to solving the county’s worst child abuse case in the mid-1990s, to building the office, Hespen has spent years serving the people of the county.

Hespen grew up on a farm in the Fremont area, where he and his wife, Ruth, live.

He had no intention of joining law enforcement.

After graduating from Fremont High School in 1973, Hespen earned an automotive mechanic’s degree from Southeast Community College in Milford.

He worked at Diers Ford in Fremont from 1975 to 1979, before farming and raising pigs with his father, Dale, for six years.

His father retired, and in early 1986 Hespen became a reserve officer for the Fremont Police Department, where his wife served as bureau chief.

In November, he became a correctional officer in the prison. He then became a deputy.

Hespen’s career with the DCSO had a snowy and memorable start in 1987.

Parents and children returning from a youth basketball tournament in Norfolk have been stranded in the blizzard.

Hespen went to a farm where Harlan and Lavern Schauer lived. He asked if they would let the stranded people stay there. They agreed.

Night fell and other people got stuck. Hespen continued to escort the people to the Schauer farm, where they were spending the night.

With people lying on the floor and on the furniture, it gave new meaning to the term open house.

“There were people everywhere,” Hespen said. “The blizzard was so bad and all the snowplows had been taken off the roads, so there was no way the road would be open.”

Even years later, Fremonter Mike Guilliatt, who got stuck with his son, still talks about that time.

“He tells me I saved his life,” Hespen said. “He likes to talk about it every time I see him.”

Hespen’s night patrols took him all over the county. He handled domestic violence calls and intoxicated people.

“We didn’t have the number of MPs we have now,” he noted.

His career included car accident coverage.

Often a deputy was first on the scene, as he was in the area.

“I was the last person to talk to people before they died,” he said quietly.

He remembers a young woman.

“I tried to console her and tell her that everything would be fine,” he said. “She died before the team arrived.”

Death notifications are also a difficult part of the job.

Hespen had to tell parents that a son or daughter died or a wife that her husband died in an accident.

He handled some of those situations as a deputy, but years later he took on that duty as a sheriff so the deputies didn’t have to.

In the early 1990s, Hespen moved to the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. team as an assistant.

He took reports of theft and burglary and served as the lead child abuse investigator.

Hespen recalls a case involving four young girls.

“These girls were trained to lie by their mother, because of retaliation if they didn’t do what she told them,” Hespen said. “I had investigated abuse calls at this residence for this family and (the girls) always had plausible stories of how their injuries had occurred.”

Although they are the same age, two of the girls went to different schools.

One day both schools called about the injuries the girls had sustained.

Hespen took the girls to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services office in Fremont.

A social worker took a girl into a room and examined her for more injuries than Hespen could see.

“She showed me pictures of other bruises she had and they were pretty significant,” he said.

Hespen talked to the girls.

“I basically assured them that if they told me the truth, I would guarantee them that they would never go home,” he said.

The girls started talking about events.

Hespen obtained a search warrant for the house and drove there the same day. He found items that the girls had described that had been used in their abuse.

“The judge and county attorney told me this was the worst child abuse case Dodge County has ever prosecuted,” Hespen said. “It involved all forms of abuse – mental, physical and sexual.”

The mother pleaded guilty. She served her sentence and was later released. The man involved in the case has been convicted.

Hespen and a social worker and the girls went to the McDonald’s restaurant after the man’s trial ended.

The man died in prison after several years. In the meantime, the girls had left to live in another state.

The girls sent thank you notes to Hespen.

This case and others opened Hespen’s eyes to the extent of child abuse in the county – something he would later speak about during his campaign for sheriff.

In 1997, Hespen became a patrol sergeant and resumed night shifts. He was a sergeant for 10 years, supervising four or five deputies.

The sheriff’s office serves as the coroner for the county. The deaths of young people, suicides and the death of a baby due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have been difficult, he said.

Hespen ran for sheriff in 2006.

He won the elections and took office on January 4, 2007.

“I kept all my campaign promises,” he said. “I’m a little proud of that.”

Pledges included continuing to train child abuse investigators and implementing a K-9 program.

Currently, Sgt. Bruce Mastin patrols with his K-9 partner, Matrix, a Belgian Malinois.

Matrix is ​​a dual drug detection and patrol dog. If a suspect throws evidence out of a car and into a ditch, Matrix will locate it.

“You can throw a quarterback in knee-deep grass and he’ll find it for you,” Hespen said.

Matrix is ​​trained in the protection of dog handlers. Mastin can press a button on a remote control that opens the door of the police vehicle if he needs a K-9 backup.

The dog is also trained to detect suspects. He found one suspect in a dumpster, another hiding in a storage building and a third hiding under a mobile home.

The K-9 unit was supported solely by donations.

“I think it promotes community involvement,” Hespen said.

Over the past 15 years, Hespen has also ensured MPs have bulletproof vests, funded through grants and other funds.

No taxpayer money was used.

Hespen said he stayed within budget and returned money to the county each year.

Today, the sheriff’s department has 18 deputies on the road and two in training.

It’s quite a leap from the start of Hespen. He cites the increase in the number of appeals as a factor.

Dodge County Courthouse Security has added a few positions. Deputies monitor an x-ray machine and scanner as people enter the courthouse.

A resource officer serves the North Bend Central and Logan View public school districts.

“It was very well received by both schools,” he said.

Another investigator position has been added. Investigators deal with cases such as child abuse, burglary and theft.

The sheriff’s department has four openings right now.

Looking back, Hespen can see how technology has changed. The entire department had only two radar units when it started in 1987.

Today, every vehicle is a mobile office with on-board cameras and computers.

Where MPs once handed out handwritten citations, they now scan driving licenses and registrations and print citations in their vehicles to hand out to motorists.

Hespen said he will miss the people he worked with.

“I’ve worked with some really great people,” he said.

“Law enforcement, over the last few years, has gotten bad press and so it’s not a really popular profession right now,” he said. “But I think through it all, the deputies in this department have held their heads up high and continued to do their jobs and haven’t allowed a lot of outside influences to affect the way they do their jobs. .”

Hespen values ​​his family.

“You cannot have what I consider to be a successful 35 year career in law enforcement without the support of my family and I am very fortunate that my wife and two daughters have been there to support me throughout. throughout my career,” he said.

The Hespens enjoy camping and eating out with their daughters Jill Hespen and her husband, Steve, and daughter Mechelle Hespen. The Hespens enjoy going to Marco Island and Sanibel, Florida.

He enjoyed his career.

“I’ve always said you’ll never get a better job in law enforcement,” he says. “It’s a job I’m very happy to have chosen.