×

Thankful to the city he worked to protect

Hohensee retires after 33 years with police department

Senior Investigator Jeff Hohensee hands his badge in and shakes the hand of Commander Dean Barstad as his 33 year career comes to a close Thursday. Hohensee said he plans to stay active during his retirement.

NEW ULM — After 33 years with the New Ulm Police Department, progressing from rookie police officer to senior investigator, Jeff Hohensee had his last day on the job Thursday as he entered retirement.

Hohensee said he started his career at 20 years old in Goodview before moving to New Ulm. He said interactions with some police officers drew his interest in law enforcement.

“I was looking for a career that wasn’t the same every day,” Hohensee said. “I talked with a couple of police officers and their responses to that sparked my interest.”

When Hohensee first began, the current law enforcement center had not been built. He started his work in City Hall, which he said was a whole different experience from what it is today.

“We would have to dispatch for part of our shift where we would dispatch the local calls,” Hohensee said. “The 911 calls went to the sheriff’s department, but all local calls came into our police department dispatch.”

Originally, Hohensee planned to spend a couple of years in New Ulm and use the experience as a springboard for a metro position. He said the town and the people within it made it easy to stay and serve.

“I think New Ulm is a beautiful community,” Hohensee said. “It’s a great place to raise children and raise a family. I love the schools. I love the parks. I love the cleanliness of the town and I love the fact that people respect each other. I’m very proud of the police department, the people that I worked with, and the good things that we’ve done together as a group.”

On top of the local community, Hohensee said a rich culture between the NUPD and several other state agencies gave him inspiration and support when he started.

“There’s a lot of veteran officers that inspired me back then,” he said. “It’s such a rich tradition of law enforcement in this area. It’s from the Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, State Patrol, and DNR, they all take you under your wing when you get here. When I was a rookie, I had all kinds of guys from those different departments being mentors to me.”

Hohensee said the biggest change he has noticed in the force during his time is how much technology has advanced, with cell phones and computers among the many advancements taking a bigger role in law enforcement. He said the job market in law enforcement has also changed drastically.

“When I applied here, there were two jobs and almost 200 people that applied for those jobs,” Hohensee said. “We just had an opening in the last week for one position and I was told responses were in the single digits.”

Hohensee said his biggest joy was the camaraderie he shared with his fellow officers. As an example, he said how his bond with members of Child Protection from Brown County Human Services has had a positive impact.

“I took a step about five years ago where we involve ourselves a lot more with child protection,” Hohensee said. “The Brown County Human Services for child protection team and law enforcement gel well together. It’s been a very successful implementation of us together. I think the children of Brown County are being served better than they ever have because of those changes.”

As for what’s next, Hohensee said he plans to take some time off and look into part-time jobs to stay busy. As he moves into the next chapter of his life, he said he will always be thankful to the city of New Ulm for the opportunity to have served them.

“I’m thankful to the community that allowed me to be here and perform the job,” he said. “That isn’t always easy, but at the same time, they’ve been so supportive of us in law enforcement. The administration is supportive of us. We have a great group of men and women here that I believe are the best professionals in the area.”

Starting at $4.50/week.

Subscribe Today