craigdailypress.com

When Craig Police Depart­ment Officer Dale Secules interacts with someone in the community while patrolling, he doesn’t see it as an opportunity to put someone in handcuffs or write them a ticket.

He sees it as a chance to teach.

“Rather than make judgment, I see myself as an educator,” he said. “I have to take care of business. But if I can educate someone with just a warning, then that’s what I’ll do.”

Starting Jan. 1, Secules will fill a detective position, formerly held by Ken Johnson, in the investigation unit.

Johnson resigned from the department in September after an internal investigation. He now faces criminal charges in Moffat County.

For Secules, who has worked for the department for seven years, the promotion will be a change of scenery, as well as responsibility.

He spent three years as a patrol officer and said he enjoyed being in the field more than sitting behind a desk.

“I guess I just like being out and around and helping people,” he said.

“Helping people is the biggest satisfaction, more so than busting people.”

As a detective, he’ll undergo some training, move to the investigations office down the hall and spend more time seeing cases through to their conclusions.

“I’ll be a little out of my comfort zone,” he said. “But hopefully I’ll make an impact in a positive way.”

He said he probably will miss the dynamic nature of patrol duty and helping people one on one, but he knows that as a detective, he’ll have opportunities to make a difference behind the scenes.

“I’ve arrested people for DUI before, and I’ve had people come up to me later and thank me for saving their life that night, or someone else’s,” he said. “Those pats on the back from the community go pretty far.”

He didn’t originally put in for the position, but after the first candidate fell through, he looked at the opportunity as a challenge.

The new position will involve less time out on the road patrolling and more time behind a desk, but he said it will give him more time to work on remodeling his house and spend time with his three children: Adam, 15, and Ryan and Laura, both 13.

When he moves to the new office, Bill Leonard, investigations unit commander, will be his new supervisor.

Leonard said he’s looking forward to Secules joining his unit in the new year.

“Dale’s been with us some time, and I think he’ll be a strong asset to the investigations unit,” Leonard said. “He’s really good at communicating with people. He always makes them feel at ease.”

He said when officers are on patrol, they often don’t get to see cases through to the end. But spending time in patrol gives officers the chance to learn the basics and develop communication skills, which prepares them to spend a lot of time interviewing victims.

“You really need the ability to think things through as a detective,” Leonard said. “Sometimes we forget about common sense, and Dale definitely has that.”

Secules said he’s proud to be a part of the police department, and will be just as proud of his new home in investigations.

“We’ve had our setbacks,” he said.

“And you’ll find that with any business. Overall it’s a great department. I’m here for my family, to make sure they have a good environment. If this place was crooked, this would be the last place I’d be.”

Leonard said one of the things he’s looking forward to the most is Secules’ good-hearted, community service approach to his job.

“Sometimes, through this all, we forget about the 99 percent of officers who are out there doing their job every day and doing it well, like Dale,” Leonard said.

“He looks at his job as a way we can better the community. I’ve always admired him for that.”

Nicole Inglis can be reached at 875-1793, or ninglis@craigdailypress.com.