By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After more than four decades in law enforcement, Wednesday marked the final day on the job for Ellis County Undersheriff Bruce Hertel.
He began working as a volunteer for the Hays Police Department in 1971 and retired Wednesday after serving in law enforcement for the past 46 years.
After starting out as a reserve volunteer for the Hays Police Department, the Ellis County native followed in his father’s footsteps and worked in a number of law enforcement positions that included dispatch and clerk, sheriff’s deputy, detective and undersheriff all before being elected sheriff until 1981 — a position he held for 12 years.
Hertel worked in the private sector for a year, before returning to the sheriff’s department as a dispatcher in 1994 and worked in that position until Ed Harbin was elected sheriff in 1997. Harbin picked Hertel to be his undersheriff, a position he has held ever since.
“I enjoyed coming to work, I enjoyed trying to help people, I enjoyed the type of work,” said Hertel, “because you never knew what was coming next.”
But now after all these years, Hertel said he’s “tired of being ready.”
“I dream about sitting back and relaxing for a little while,” he said. “I can do what I want, when I want and not have to worry about going out on a call or worrying about what’s next.”
Hertel said he’s not sure how he will react the first time he sees a police car with its lights and sirens going driving by.
“I’m going to want to know what’s going on,” Hertel said.
While he has no regrets, Hertel admits there have been ups and downs.
“We always think the worst, police officers always have to be prepared for the worst,” Hertel said. “It’s hard to leave it at the door.”
Serving in law enforcement for the length of time and the number of positions that Hertel has he has seen a number of changes.
One of the most significant changes that Hertel has seen is the change in attitude toward law enforcement.
“There’s more disrespect for authority, in general,” Hertel said.
Hertel’s father served as a Lieutenant in Charge of Communications for the Hays Police Department and worked for the Hays PD for more than three decades.
“I know when I was growing up, if I ever talked backed to an officer or ever got in trouble, I was more worried about going home to see Dad then I was about the police,” said Hertel. “We respected police officers and that’s changed quite a bit.
“Unfortunately that turns into your daily life. Even when you’re off duty, you’re looking at people suspiciously.”
Hertel has also seen changes to facilities and equipment.
When he started, the jail capacity was approximately 12. Two law enforcement center remodels later, the current jail has a capacity of about 70.
The changes in equipment might be the biggest change Hertel has seen over the past four decades.
Hertel said, when he started, officers didn’t have portable radios because they would be out of range outside of city limits. Now they can communicate across the state on portable radios.
The implementation of cellphones has also made a dramatic change in the way things are done.
“The (smart) phone I carry right now, it does so many things that I don’t need a lot of different equipment,” Hertel said. “My phone does it.”
From using Polaroid cameras in the early days to developing his own film as a detective, Hertel said the phones have made it much easier.
But not all of the technological improvements have been great, in Hertel’s opinion.
Social media and the press have also made law enforcement’s job more difficult.
“I feel like the information age is sometimes too good,” Hertel said. “We’ll get to a scene and before we need to talk to people or we need talk to family members or notify next of kin and we find out it has been on Facebook for two hours.
“People make determination of things, because of the information age and all the information that gets out, people seem to rush judgement.”
He said it is law enforcement’s job to “find the truth” and make sure not to release information that could hurt the investigation or taint a potential jury.
Hertel said he is looking forward to spending his free time fishing, playing golf and spending time with his family. And while he looks forward to retirement, he will miss the job.
“I’m going to miss the people I work with,” Hertel said. “You’re kind of all brothers, and we kind of rely on each other because some people don’t like law enforcement, they don’t like authority.”
During his 46 years in law enforcement, Hertel worked his way up from the bottom to the top not once but twice and, while he may be seen enjoying a cup of coffee at the Law Enforcement Center from time to time, he said, “there won’t be a third time.”