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K9 Stano joins Sheriff’s Office ranks

SERT team acquires armored vehicle to assist in keeping officers safe

By Kelby Wingert 5 min read

The Webster County Sheriff's Office had a busy year in 2023.

In April, the Sheriff's Office grew by four feet -- or paws, really. K-9 Stano and his handler, Deputy Tyler Holbrook, hit the ground running in April, collecting several narcotics arrests and even the apprehension of a federal fugitive just in Stano's first week.

On April 7, Holbrook and Stano's first day on patrol, the team was called to assist the Gowrie Police Department with a traffic stop, where he was able to sniff out a THC vape pen and other marijuana products. The next day, Stano helped deputies locate baggies containing methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia in a vehicle during another traffic stop.

Stano helped with other narcotics arrests on April 9 and 12.

On April 10, Stano was deployed at the front door of a residence where law enforcement believed a federal fugitive was hiding. The subject quickly surrendered and was taken into custody without incident.

Also in April, the Webster County Sheriff's Office obtained an armored vehicle for the Special Emergency Response Team to use when handling high-risk search warrants and responding to extremely perilous situations.

Thanks to a military surplus program through the Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency, the SERT team has acquired a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle, also known as an armored personnel vehicle, at no cost to the county. The program is coordinated through the DLA's Law Enforcement Support Office.

"It's a good asset to have," Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener told The Messenger. "Hopefully we never need it, but if we do, it's here."

The vehicle is dedicated to the memory of fallen Rockwell City Police Officer Jamie Buenting, who was a member of the SERT team and was shot and killed in September 2013 when the SERT team was responding to a barricaded armed suspect in Rockwell City.

Fleener wants to prevent another officer losing his life like Buenting, and the armored vehicle will provide more safety for the SERT team that it doesn't have with its current transportation.

The vehicle may look intimidating, but it is not an offensive weapon -- it is purely a defensive tool to protect the lives of the law enforcement officers inside and behind it. Essentially, the vehicle is a giant ballistics shield on wheels.

"It's not on patrol; it's just used for tactical high-risk operations that could be life-dependent," Fleener said. "In an extreme case of a bank robbery, where somebody could be injured, we could use that as cover to get up between the threat and where that person was injured at."

The vehicle weighs roughly 36,800 pounds. Fleener said inside the vehicle will be a comprehensive map of the region with roads and bridges that can't handle that kind of weight noted and alternative routes marked.

Fleener said the armored vehicle will also be used in community outreach events like National Night Out, Iowa Central's Careers on Wheels and the Webster County Fair.

Over the summer, the Webster County Sheriff's Office, along with the Fort Dodge Community Foundation, received a sizeable grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Rural Crime and Violence Reduction program.

Despite initially applying for $73,000 in grant funding, the DOJ instead awarded a $200,000 grant.

The money from the U.S. Department of Justice will enable the Sheriff's Office to continue using technology that will help local law enforcement agencies access locked cell phones after obtaining search warrants.

A portion of the grant money will be used by the Sheriff's Office to pay licensing fees for a software called GreyKey.

That software is used to access locked cell phones.

"We know how critical the GreyKey software is for enhancing investigations and timely evidence collection," Fleener said.

The grant money will pay $21,000 in licensing fees for GreyKey in each of the next two years.

The grant funding will also pay for outreach and educational efforts by the Fort Dodge -- Webster County Safe Communities Coalition, which was started by the Community Foundation.

The Sheriff's Office, along with the Fort Dodge Police Department, were recipients of an $18,837 grant from the Department of Justice's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant Program to fund training and equipment. The Sheriff's Office received $7,582.80 and the Police Department received $11,374.20. Each agency must also spend $3,100 of their grant funds on drug task force training and jointly purchased or shared equipment and software.

In 2023, the Sheriff's Office hired three new deputies. Harmon Atwood and Colton Monson both came from the Fort Dodge Police Department, and Matthew Miller.

Monson was hired to fill a new position that was created when the Sheriff's Office began its contract to provide full-time law enforcement coverage for the city of Dayton.

Deputy Pat Gerhardt was promoted to sergeant in July.

In December, Deputy Brett Knippel retired after 25 years with the Sheriff's Office.

Fleener spent much of the fall working to educate the public on the need for a new Webster County jail. The $45.5 million bond referendum on the November ballot that would have funded the project failed to pass.

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