New Sheriff, Same Mission for Wright County Department

It's a cold, April afternoon, but Wright County Sheriff Joe Hagerty is all smiles. 

With 13 communities in Wright County to serve, and more than 100,000 local residents, Hagerty has his hands full. But he knows that first, and perhaps foremost, he has to serve as the department's spokesman. 

"My calendar has gotten a lot fuller," Hagerty said, noting a Rotary appearnace in Delano and dinner at the Crow River Senior Center, which are both on tap today. 

Hagerty comes by his service honestly. His father was a longtime council member in St. Michael, who also knew that public relationships were a big part of the job. 

The message from Wright County remains the same. Hagerty wants the sheriff's department to be part of the team, particularly in the major communities they contract with for police protection. 

The biggest contract, of course, is in St. Michael (Buffalo, the county's largest city,has its own department). With more than 17,000 residents, St. Michael requires three full-time coverage for 32 hours (four shifts) per day. The overlap comes in the afternoon. 

Countywide, crime is down, despite the economic factors that would lead many to believe it would go up.

"It could be because the county is seeing less construction traffic, which means less people coming into our communities that might do the petty stuff," Hagerty said. 

His right-hand man, Capt. Dan Anselment, who heads up the county's patrol division, agreed. 

"Theft is way down. But what we see is a lot of changes with technology. There are lot more crimes done online. And, in the same way, technology is helping us do our jobs better," Anselment told the St. Michael City Council in a recent report. 

Hagerty said he wants to keep crime numbers low, and he's started a couple of missions to do that. 

First, he invited all local media to a special open house at the Wright County Law Enforcement Center, north of Buffalo. 

"We want to team with local media to get the word out on cases right away. When there are things under investigation, you still have to keep it quiet, but we want to work with you guys," Hagerty said. 

Second, he's working with deputies to get into minority communities. The sheriff is planning an open meeting with local immigrants this month in Buffalo and St. Michael. Deputies are also working with minority populations in Monticello and Delano, as well. 

"The difficult thing we run into, is when we hire guys, a lot of the applicants all look like me," Hagerty said. Many of the department's staff have Wright County roots (Anselment, for example, is from Albertville; two other deputies grew up in St. Michael). "These people, many of them, are coming from areas where law enforcement isn't necessarily in the form of someone you trust. So we have to turn that around, and let them know they can come to us when there's a problem, and feel safe." 

Another mission is keeping deputies close to the area's largest schools. Currently, seven officers serve five different school districts. St. Michael-Albertville has two Student Resource Officers, as does Monticello. 

That's (of course) cut response time to school incidents, which account for some of the most frequent calls in the county. 

So far, Hagerty, who has served Wright County through three decades now, said he's "still learning." But he loves his new job. 

"I think we have really good people here," Hagerty said. "It's going well." 

This is the first part in a mutli-part series that will examine the Wright County Sheriff's Department. Look for future segments throughout the month here on St. Michael Patch.