LPD Officer of the Year is first local CSI
By Andrea McCann, staff writer
Leadership, people skills, and attention to detail are among the qualities
that helped Detective Sgt. Duane Collenbaugh claim the Linton Police Department
Officer of the Year award.
The award was presented to Collenbaugh by LPD Chief Keith McDonald on May 9
at the annual Bloomfield Rotary and Bloomfield State Bank Honors Night for
"It was a total surprise," Collenbaugh said. "I don't do the
job for the reward, but it's very much appreciated. I work hard like all the
guys around me. I'm probably no more deserving than them, but I'm very glad to
get it. I appreciate it very much."
Sitting in the back row at the awards presentation and enjoying the kids getting
their awards, Collenbaugh said, he had no idea his chief was describing him as
the 2005 Officer of the Year.
"I never dreamed he was talking about me," he said. "Words
can't describe how proud and excited and grateful I am."
McDonald said when he selects the Officer of the Year,
he usually looks at statistical reports with things like number of arrests on
them.
"This year I took a different approach to be more
fair to people with supervisory positions," he said.
"Duane basically runs second shift every day. He has excellent people
skills. He takes care of a lot of issues in the evening before I have to deal
with it the next day. He also helps with scheduling issues on second shift. All
around, he has a tremendous amount of responsibility. He kind of keeps his
thumb on the pulse of the community."
The chief said Collenbaugh also is responsible for school and neighborhood
patrols, keeping business parking lots cleared of loiterers, and any serious
crimes that occur on his shift.
"He's our lead crime scene technician, which -- again -- is a huge
responsibility," McDonald said, explaining that the job includes
determining the crime scene area and identifying, collecting, and processing
possible evidence.
He said evidence is crucial to their cases, and the good detective and
police work and record keeping of officers like Collenbaugh guarantee it's
useable. McDonald said he's had several calls from other agencies, such as the
Indiana State Police, complimenting him on the evidence collection and
processing of his department. He gives Collenbaugh much of the credit.
The respect goes both ways.
"The credit goes to Keith," Collenbaugh said. "He helped me
get the job and sees things in me I don't see."
He said McDonald encourages him and is an excellent supervisor for whom to
work.
"I'm super grateful to him," Collenbaugh said. "He's taken
good care of me, like he has the whole department."
Though his father was a police officer at Crane, law enforcement wasn't
something Collenbaugh thought about as a career. He earned an associate's
degree in communication from
"I found a correctional officer job at Putnamville," he said.
The detective sergeant explained that he knew McDonald and then-patrolman
Gary Tannehill. It was McDonald who planted the idea of becoming a police
officer. He suggested that Collenbaugh talk to then-chief, Jack Watson, who
ultimately hired Collenbaugh on
"As things turned out, I'm glad Keith gave me the opportunity,"
the detective sergeant said. "Things have worked out great. It's a lot of
hard work and responsibility, but the benefits are there. I take pride in my
job and enjoy my work tremendously."
At LPD, Collenbaugh said, he started out as a patrolman and became detective
sergeant during his fifth year on the job. For the last year and a half, he's
been a crime scene investigator. He has the distinction of being the first CSI
in Linton.
"I believe I was the first in the county," he said.
Collenbaugh explained that the Indiana State Police used to do the crime
scene investigations for LPD -- and many other departments -- but now the department
can do its own, taking some of the burden off ISP.
"My favorite part of the job is probably taking a crime from start to
finish and putting clues together to solve it and catch the bad guy,"
Collenbaugh said. "Helping people is a big part of it. I enjoy the
community.
"Probably my least favorite part of the job is going into homes where a
child is being mistreated. It can only break your heart. I have kids. To see
some of the homes and conditions these kids live in is probably the hardest
thing."
Collenbaugh and his wife, Jonah, are the parents of Jarod, 14, and Devin, 7.
Though Collenbaugh has no plans to retire soon, he and Jonah have started a
business on the side to allow them to stay in the community and enjoy their
retirement in the Linton area. They recently opened D & J's Outfitters at