Ron McClure
McClure has been in law enforcement for 34 years. "I love my job and I care what happens to the community," he said.
Through his years of service, the job has gone through an evolution that McClure has supported. First, as the county and city of Luverne law enforcement departments merged, and now, as community policing is a trend Rock County is adopting as its manner of policing.
He sees the joint law merger as a positive thing for the county. It allowed for the investigator position, which the county attorneys will testify, has made reports and legal work more efficient.
When the concept of community policing arose earlier this year, the department faced more changes. "I support community policing, I believe in it very strongly. It will bring the community closer to us, and by doing that, we'll increase trust."
McClure said a noticeable change in community policing is the feedback individuals will get from officers, who will follow through more regularly with victims or complainants.
Encouraging two-way communication will help the department in the long run, McClure said. "Sometimes people might just have better ideas."
Much of the local talk recently has been about drug use in young people. "It's alarming and we have to continue to work on it, but we still have good kids. This is something we've always been working on," McClure said.
The drug problems now, he said, are different in nature because of the harshness of the chemicals ingested when using substances like methamphetamine.
Community policing will bring more communication with the public, but as an elected person, McClure still sees the department as setting its own goals from within.
Much of McClure's work involves a mixture of family issues with crime solving. "There's almost nothing I wouldn't do for people who need me," he said.
He wants to remind people that the department is investigating reports of illegal activity and following through to make solid arrests that can't be challenged.
