Park Patrol History_Gary Schroeder
The park patrol was established sometime in the 1940’s as far as I know. They got their first
patrol car in or about 1953. Prior to then, they patrolled on foot.
I became a full time ranger in 1974. Prior to then, I was a fill in ranger although I was employed
full time in the forestry division at the time. There were three full time rangers when I started.
They worked a rotating schedule and there were always two officers working on any given day.
Hours at that time were 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM weekdays. Saturday, Sunday and holiday hours
were 11:00 AM to 1:00 AM. At that time, the parks were open until midnight.
During the budget crunch in the 1980’s, the hours were reduced to 4:00 PM to midnight as the
park hours changed to a closing time of 10:00 PM to save overtime costs. We did however
have a ranger work on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on overtime to cover the
weekend crowds. Later on these overtime hours were cut when we started utilizing seasonal
people on the weekends as a cost saving measure.
In 1984, it was determined that park rangers needed by law to become certified. Mike Sullivan
and Charles Banks were sent to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in the spring of 1984. I
was sent to Hawkeye Community College in the fall of 1984 to become certified under the ILEA
intermediate certification program since I had been active in law enforcement for ten years.
Since that time all full time park rangers have been certified through ILEA.
The park patrol has seen many people leave the position over the years. John Hail, Dan
Avenarius, Art Hedley, Mike Sullivan, Terry Leibold, Tom Kramer, Linda Boffeli, Nick Bibb, Bob
Papenthein and Tyson Brown have all left to take other jobs. Avenarius, Sullivan, Boffeli and
Papenthein all left for the Dubuque PD. Hail, Hedley, Leibold, Kramer and Bibb all took
maintenance positions within the park division. Charles Banks did not graduate from ILEA, and
lost his position as a park ranger as a result. Hail went on to become park division manager.
Brown left to become a conservation officer with the Iowa DNR.
I have always believed this exodus was mainly due to two factors:
Number one was the pay. At one time, park rangers were one step above laborer in the union
pay scale. We bargained through the union for a pay increase and were granted a one-step
increase and it has remained there ever since. At the present time, park rangers are at the
bottom of the full time pay scale, since laborer and truck driving positions have been eliminated
from the park division. People who left for other positions within the division did so because
they would no longer have to work nights and weekends, and would be paid the same rate
minus the $.10 per hour night rate.
Those who left for the police dept. did so I believe because they wanted to be officers year
round. I myself found it very hard to transition to maintenance at the end of the patrol season.
In doing a job you really enjoy, it’s hard to stop cold turkey so to speak. I remember going from
a professional position of park patrol to having to ask a foreman if it was OK to go to the shop
basement to get a new can of paint to paint a picnic table. Things like that were hard to take.
Another reason to leave for the police dept. was more money and better benefits. They had a
better sick leave program and a much better pension program, not to mention the disability
program if they were injured on the job.
Moving on to the current situation:
After I retired in January 2010, Joe Fleckenstein was hired. Tyson Brown took my position as
lead ranger and Fleckenstein moved into Brown’s position. Fleckenstein was sent to ILEA for
certification in January 2010. In early 2013, Brown joined the Iowa DNR, leaving just one full
time ranger. The vacant position was not immediately filled, and then the hiring freeze came
along. Since then, seasonal rangers have filled the void.
Since the overtime that I touched on earlier, seasonal people have been of great value to the
park patrol activity. In 1997 or 1998, the seasonal rangers received a substantial pay increase
from the minimum wage they were receiving. Prior to this pay increase, we had a very difficult
time keeping reliable people in this position. The reason for this was the low rate of pay. We
had people constantly quitting and calling in one half hour before start of shift that they were
not able to come in. This resulted in having to either scramble to find a sub or have the one
person on duty cover all parks for that shift. After the pay increase, this problem became
virtually non-existent. In fact one seasonal ranger worked for us from 1997 until the end of the
2013 park season. Another started in the early 2000’s and is still working today.
I have a deep respect for the seasonal rangers who have worked with me. I believe they are an
important aspect of the park patrol activity, but in no way should be used to replace full time
officers. Another point to consider is if there are not any full time officers to supervise these
people and to give them the periodical training they need, who is going to do it? This has
always been the responsibility of a full time officer.
The council talked about having seasonal people without the power of arrest out in marked
vehicles. We did do this during my tenure and it continued until the park patrol vehicles were
stripped of markings. Although I know there was a certain risk involved in this, we had the
confidence in these people to use their heads and not get involved in anything that could be
potentially dangerous. We constantly drove this point home to them. The risks were never
totally eliminated, but they were greatly reduced through instructions and training.
At one point our seasonal rangers drove a pick up and were not in a police type uniform. We
found that this made dealing with the public quite difficult at times. If a park patron was
violating a particular ordinance, say a dog in the park, prior to being uniformed, they were
usually not paid attention to. After putting them in a uniform, and allowing them to drive
marked vehicles, the problem virtually disappeared. Again, the training we gave them in this
area kept them from ever getting in over their heads in anything. It should also be noted that
the DNR and the Army Corp of Engineers utilize seasonal rangers who wear a uniform and a
badge with no powers of arrest that I am aware of.
As far as full time rangers go, I think Mr. Jones hit everything spot on. First of all, I think it was
totally wrong and dangerous to take Joe Fleckenstein’s gun away. He is still a certified peace
officer, so why not keep him in this position? You are in effect taking a police officer off of the
street or out of the parks. If a police officer is needed, the city must take one of their officers to
do a job that Fleckenstein could be doing. This is a total waste of resources in my opinion.
At the council meeting, Chief Dalsing stated that city officers routinely drive through city parks.
When I was working, if I saw a city car drive through Eagle Point once a month, it was a rarity.
In fact, when Bob O’Brien was chief, it was common knowledge that he told his officers to stay
out of the parks. I’m not saying that’s the way it is today, but it was at one time. Parks like
Eagle Point and Murphy are on the far fringes of their respective police territories and do not
see the attention like downtown parks and parks such as Flora.
It should also be noted that after we lost the third full time ranger position, the police dept.
wrote a policy stating that for the most part city officers would handle calls in smaller parks and
park rangers would mostly stay in the larger parks. This took some of the pressure off, but if
the city police were busy, park officers were often dispatched to small parks anyway. That
same policy stated that only full time rangers could take reports. Seasonal rangers could not. I
believe Ms. Ware stated that full time rangers frequently called upon city officers to either take
reports or assist in taking reports. This was not the case when I worked. We took all of our
own reports.
Full time rangers are another set of trained eyes out there. I can’t count the number of times
that I spotted wanted individuals or vehicles who just happened to drive through a park. Park
officers would either arrest these people of notify the city of their location and assist in the
arrest.
Back in the 1980’s, a young woman was taken across the river and murdered by three
individuals who frequented Eagle Point Park. The investigators knew who did this crime, but
needed to build the case against them. Since these people frequented the park, we were asked
to continually monitor their activities while in the park and who they were associating with. I
myself was involved in arresting two of these individuals in the park when the warrants came
down. The third individual had just left the park prior to the issuance of the warrants and was
arrested at home a short time later.
When FDL foods went on strike during the early 1980’s, I and two other park officers were
gotten out of bed at 2:00 AM by the police dept. shift captain. The captain advised that things
were heating up down at the Pack and he needed all of his available officers to congregate
there. We were to come in immediately and we would be assigned to work the streets. We did
this for several days until the labor dispute was settled.
In the 1990’s, there were numerous cross burnings and racial graffiti occurring around the city.
We were working in maintenance positions at the time. We were called off those jobs to get
back in uniform and were sent out in unmarked police cars to patrol the north end Point areas
in an attempt to hopefully prevent some of these happenings, and to report any unusual
activities.
In that same time frame, the KKK came to Dubuque to put on a demonstration at Washington
Park. Once again, the park patrol was assigned to work the streets while the demonstration
was going on. We handled all calls that came in just as city officers would have. The police
dept. never hesitated to use us on time of need. Right after 911, a park ranger was assigned to
work security at the airport until additional security became available. Full time park officers
were also assigned to assist during presidential visits to Dubuque for security and traffic
control. These examples show the value of having certified park rangers ready to assist on a
moment’s notice.
At all other times, the park rangers were ready and willing to assist city officers as needed.
Sometimes we volunteered to assist and at other times, dispatch requested our assistance.
This led to a very close relationship between park and city officers. Many times park officers
would come across situations while on routine patrol that they could handle with no need to
bother a city officer. This includes motorist assists, directions, etc. We would also assist at
traffic accidents or fires to direct traffic thus freeing a city officer for other duties.
Another factor I believe that helped bring the park patrol activity to where it is today is the fact
that there was a huge turnover in management around the time I left. John Hail had retired, Gil
Spence had retired and Bob Fritsch left the position of park division manager.
This in no way is meant to reflect on current management, but when you lose that much
knowledge of how the department operates, it’s bound to have an effect on the operation of
the department. I know that Gil Spence once told me after he retired that he had always told
newly hired supervisors who came from outside the department to “be sure to learn what we
do and why we do it before you make any changes.” I don’t believe this was done by current
administration. They had very little knowledge of why the park patrol existed and what they
actually did.
I believe the public has a reasonable expectation of a park ranger being in the parks on a
regular basis. Thousands of people use our parks. On weekends, Eagle Point alone becomes a
small city. If medical or some other emergencies develop or someone simply needs a band aid,
full time officers are certified First Responders who can give immediate aid.
I remember Jean McDonald, who lives on Eagle Point Drive walking through Eagle Point on a
cold October night around 9:30 PM. It was nearly closing time and I think she and I were the
only people in the park. I asked her if she wasn’t a little nervous walking around in the dark by
herself. Her reply was “no, I grew up in this park and I know you guys are always here to watch
out for me.” There is comfort in knowing help is not far away if needed.
In closing, I would like to reflect on just a few more things. When I became a park ranger, the
next youngest officer was 62 years old. They all did their jobs as best they could, but times
were changing as far as the attitudes of people using the parks. The 1970’s brought a very
young and hostile type crowd to the parks. It took a younger group of officers to relate and
handle this type of crowds. I fell into the same category after being a full time ranger for nearly
40 years. I knew when it was time to leave and allow someone younger to take my place.
The park patrol officers were community policing officers long before that title was ever
thought of. We knew who our patrons were and knew how each group behaved and reacted to
them accordingly. I truly believe that the elimination of full time certified patrol officers is a
grave mistake. I urge you to not take this giant step backward. If possible, find the money to
offer these people a better pay rate and perhaps utilize them to work the streets during the off
season. Seasonal people could be hired to paint and build picnic tables, plant flowers, help with
snow removal and other various jobs that park rangers now do in the off season. Don’t let
good training go to waste.
One other concern that was mentioned was people becoming certified and then leaving for
another job. Chief Dalsing stated that they had a policy in place that required people who did
this to pay back the training costs that the City paid. I see no reason why the park division
could not do the same thing. Park officers who left to become city officers were already
certified, and while still needing to go through the FTO program, they were fairly adapted and
usually got through the program with little trouble. So my thought is that the City was a winner
in those instances and if others who leave abruptly for employment with another agency repay
for the training they received, much of this expense is covered in one way or another.
I would welcome any questions or further discussion on this subject. I worked for the City of
Dubuque for 42 years. You don’t work for an organization that long without becoming part of it
and caring about it. I deeply care about the park patrol activity and the wellbeing of the city in
general. I strongly urge you to keep the park patrol activity as it has been for the sixty some
years it has been in existence.
Gary Schroeder
Lead Park Ranger (retired)
2911 Katrina Circle
Dubuque, IA 52001
563-556-5155