Q&A with Jasper Police Chief Chad Dick
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Jasper Police Chief Chad Dick has been leading the department in Dubois County for nearly three months. In January, he was sworn into the role formerly held by retiree Nathan Schmitt since August 2017.
Dick spoke with Inside INdiana Business about his lengthy law enforcement career, his goals for the Jasper Police Department and the importance of community connection.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about your background.
I went to college at Vincennes University and Indiana State University studying law enforcement and criminology. I was selected to attend the 53rd Indiana State Police Recruit School and graduated from there in December of 1995. I had a chance to come down to Jasper and visit some family and fell in love with the area. In 1997, I transferred down here and have been here ever since.
I was told early in my career to keep things fresh and not to get burned out in law enforcement. To try different things and explore areas of law enforcement because there are so many areas you could do law enforcement duties and not just one that typical people think of in uniform. So I went into our commercial vehicle enforcement division and was in charge of school bus inspections, both at Jasper and assisted with ones out of the Evansville district.
We had 13 counties in the southwest corner of the state where we inspected all the school buses. They went into our public information office, and I was the PIO for the Jasper district. I finished my career as a squad sergeant, where I was back on the road in uniform and supervising. I retired from the Indiana State Police in 2021 after 25.5 years of service and went into the private sector for about 2.5 years doing training initiatives for a company.
Then I had the opportunity to serve at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. I was hired there as a compliance specialist in the Peace Officer Standards and Training, or what’s commonly called as POST. We reviewed curriculums, ensuring they were standardized and meeting the state’s criteria. And that ultimately led to me being here as the chief of police.
How did all of that experience prepare you for this role?
All those things have culminated in me being where I am, plus being involved in things outside of jobs. Being involved in church and different things that go on there and being involved in civic groups all help mold you into the person that you are and has taught me a lot about teamwork, leadership and those types of things.
My message would be no matter what career you might be in, keep your mind open to new opportunities and challenges, and don’t be afraid to explore those. It’s not always going to be easy, but what you’ve learned from those experiences ultimately helps you out with future endeavors.
Why did you want to be chief of the Jasper Police Department?
When I transferred into the post, I was working hand in hand with the Jasper Police Department and the Dubois County Sheriff’s Office because I was assigned to Dubois County as a road trooper. I always held JPD in high regard. Their officers were well trained and knowledgeable on how to do law enforcement. I’ve always interacted well with them.
The opportunity came along to be able to come home. The private sector job had me on the road traveling all the time and then being up at the academy, which is in Plainfield two hours away. The ability to be able to come home and do the job that I love at a department that I’ve always held in high respect and to be home with my family, I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to at least try to be able to come back and lead this great agency.
You’ve been on the job for a while now. How’s it going?
I feel like I’ve been drinking from a fire hose with all the new information and people I’m meeting. But it’s been great. The department has welcomed me. We have a great team working together to move things forward. So far, things have been great. From my interactions with citizens to the department to city hall, everything has been very positive.
What are your goals in this role?
One of my first things is ensuring the wellness of my officers. We have a relatively young agency. The average years of the entire agency is just shy of eight years.
We don’t have a good police department if we don’t have healthy officers. One of the first things I’m trying to tackle is getting some type of chaplaincy program, mental health training and preparedness for the officers. Law enforcement officers will see 200+ critical incidents throughout their careers compared to the average citizen of around five or so. It’s important that they have access to training, access to resources to ensure their wellness and resiliency.
And not only the officers but their families. While we try to shield them from the bad stuff we see on our jobs, unfortunately, it does overflow into homes. I’m looking at different ways to bring families together, to get some resources and training so that they have a network of people they can rely on when things get tough. We as law enforcement officers can’t do this job alone. We must have a healthy home life to be able to thrive in the law enforcement career.
Another thing I want to do is ensure that our department has the most up-to-date training. I’ve encouraged the command staff to tell the guys, “Hey, if there’s stuff out there that interests you, and it would be something that would make our department better, let’s see what we can do.” That makes for a more satisfied workforce to tackle whatever comes our way.
What I want them to do is get engaged with the community. I’ve seen it over the course of my career that when communities and the police work together, not against each other, great things can happen. People are happy. Businesses are willing to relocate and come to those areas because they know they’ll be safe. So I’ve encouraged the officers to get out of their cars, be visible and interact with the community. It builds trust.
How do you plan to use technology to improve policing in Jasper?
We’re always adding and searching for new technology to help ensure the safety of our communities and officers. The Jasper Police Department has its own 911 center, and it’s a real-time crime center. We use several types of technology platforms to provide immediate information to our officers. License plate readers, body cameras, in-car cameras and cameras mounted throughout our city help us investigate crimes and track down suspects.
We’re going to continue to improve on those platforms and build on those because the networking of agencies across the nation and the technologies that are there truly help law enforcement focus on where the crimes are occurring and who’s committing those crimes.
What do you want Jasper residents to know about the police that they may not be aware of?
We have great public servants in our area, and it helps that we have a community that supports us. The public needs to know that the police department is well-trained. They’re dedicated public servants who are here to serve them. The more people get to know the officers and know that the officers are part of their community and know that we want to collaborate with them to ensure their communities are safe, the better off everyone is.