by GARY ALBAN
OGDEN REPORTER EDITOR
Rick Lampe figures it's time for a change. After 35 years in law enforcement - 31 of them with the Iowa State Patrol and four years with the sheriff's office in Waverly, Sgt. Lampe, 58, will report to work for the last time Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. His official first day of retirement will be Friday, Nov. 6.
It will mark the first time since 1966 that an active state trooper does not live in Ogden.
Although he has "a few irons in the fire", Lampe said he has no specific plans as to what he'll do in retirement. He hopes to spend more time with his family, work around home and the shop he built, plus maintain his small lawn care service.
He and his wife Julie have two sons and three grandchildren. Nate is a detective with the Ankeny Police Department. Nick is assistant manager at Fareway in Knoxville.
"I dearly love what I do," he said. "There has never been a day that I didn't want to go to work, whether it's a day or night shift, a holiday or even a snow storm. I did miss out on some things our boys did as they grew up, but I tried to make as many of their events as I could."
He added, "Ogden is a great town to raise a family in and it will be a great town to retire in. We came here in July of 1979. Before that, we didn't even know where Ogden was."
His first day with the State Patrol was July 9, 1979, as part of District 1. "In 1999 we had 47 officers in my district working a six county area, Boone, Story, Marshall, Jasper, Polk and Dallas," he told. "Today, there are 26. Back up time can be anywhere from two minutes to 25 minutes."
Lampe has been a sergeant for the past 6 1/2 years. His duties, among others, include supervising a half dozen troopers and coordinating driver instruction for troopers statewide.
"We never used to do much training,," he said. "Now, probably at least 45% of my officers' time is training time. Where we used to have a district meeting training twice a year, we now have six. We qualify with our weapons twice a year and shoot six times a year. All troopers are issued patrol rifles and they have to qualify twice a year."
Lampe continued, "Then there is training on accident investigation, motor vehicle law and first aid."
He commented on the use of technology in his work. "Everything we do now is performed on an in-car computer, from accident reports, traffic citations, OWI forms, memos, etc. Everything is computer generated and printed out in the car. Accident reports are automatically put on a website."
Lampe talked about some of his experiences, such as having to perform the Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT), where the patrolman nudges a car, causing it to go out of control.
He now teaches that maneuver. "At times, an officer has to make some type of decision that can turn into a life or death situation. Fortunately, I haven't lost any officers, but officers have been killed in the line of duty, and there are times when they have to use their weapon because their lives have been threatened."
He continued, "Drivers going the wrong way on the interstate or even Highway 30 near here, create very serious situations. It can be caused by a confused driver, but usually, it's the result of alcohol use. These situations create real concern for the officer and the general public."
Traffic patterns, he told, have "really picked up. There is a lot more traffic out there. The interstate system has gotten so much busier in and around Des Moines. You get an accident on the interstate and slowly, things start backing up. Then you have to worry about secondary collisions."
Lampe added, "Another problem is the good ol' Iowa winters."
Proposed budget cuts are a real concern for Lampe. He was recently involved in a meeting during which 22 officers from across the state were identified for possible job elimination.
"That has never happened before," he said, but he pointed out that the Iowa State Patrol is down 90 positions since 1999.
"These job losses could make it very difficult for us to do our job," Lampe stated. "We're shrinking, but what we do is increasing."
The local patrolman is hopeful that the Legislature will step in to prevent the layoffs or to take action, should they occur, to make them temporary.
Our best wishes to Rick.
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