Responding to a police call a couple of years ago, Hutchinson Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt found himself the first officer on the scene – “with four or five young guys who were not behaving.”
“It ran through my mind that these guys could take a 60-year-old pretty quick,” Heitschmidt said last week as a reminisced about his years of service with the department.
He decided then perhaps it was time to cut back on the weekend night patrols, or at least arrive later. He still occasionally goes on calls – “I still feel capable of lending a hand if someone needs help,” he said – but he’s not been on the street much these days. In fact, his last duty was working the Hutchinson High School homecoming parade.
Heitschmidt, 66, will officially retire Oct. 1 as Hutchinson’s Police Chief after 46 years in law enforcement, including 26 years in the top spot.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)