Lexington Police Chief Tracy Wolf will be stepping into retirement this month after 40 years of service to the Lexington Police Department.
On highlights of his career, Chief Wolf mentioned the fond memories he has of working with several officers in his early years. Among his administrative accomplishments is implementation of the school resource officer program. He is proud of a project himself and Cap. Paul Schwarz worked on for the Lexington Police Department to meet the standards for being awarded as an Accredited Law Enforcement Agency by the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal justice.
The Lexington Police Department was also one of the earliest adapters to the training and use of tazer weapons in the state due to efforts of Chief Wolf.
Chief Wolf says “esprit de corps” is important to him in the operations of the Police Department. Something he brought from his service in the military. He says it involves self-dicipline, rules, policies and procedures. But, also officers being proud of the uniform they wear and the job that they do.
When then-Officer Wolf came onto the force, there were only two patrol cars and they were unmarked. Upon becoming Chief, he implemented a traditional black and white color scheme with the next vehicle purchase and today there are seven patrol units on the street. In his early years Chief Wolf says there was around 11 to 13 officers on the department with numbers as low as 9. Today there are around 20 to 21 officers with two of them as school resource officers. He believes more patrol units and more officers has helped the Police Department to be more proactive in the community.
Chief Wolf notes the families of officers who work 24/7 with long shifts along with holidays, nights and weekends. Such commitment often leaves spouses pulling double duty with household and children, even sometimes while the officer is sleeping. He expressed special appreciation to his best friend and supporter, his wife Brenda.
Chief Wolf believes that dispatchers don’t get enough credit describing them as “the hub of the wheel” with everything starting with them while keeping officers safe. They also work holidays, nights and weekends. He says they are the first person one talks to and they deal with frantic callers on many occasions
