Paul Ver Meer kids that it's only taken him 17 years to get out of Carroll.
The Carroll Police Department sergeant, who's been on the force here since 1991, has been hired as the next police chief at Creston.
The 42-year-old starts his new job Oct. 20.
Born at Rock Rapids, Ver Meer moved to Spencer and graduated from high school there in 1984. He earned an associate degree Ellsworth Community College then a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Iowa in 1989.
Ver Meer was a patrol officer for nine years until being promoted in 2000. He has also headed the Carroll PD's narcotics investigations and field training program and served as a defensive tactics instructor and technical collision investigator.
"I've been looking for a chief position for several years," said Ver Meer. "I knew that after I got promoted to sergeant that the advancement opportunities here are pretty limited. I've always wanted to be chief of my own department. I saw the opportunity, and I took it."
Ver Meer assumes control of a department that experienced a summer of turmoil.
Creston fired chief James Christensen and assistant chief John Sickels after they were charged with sexually assaulting a bartender at a Creston golf clubhouse in April. Their trial is set for Nov. 17.
The department also came under scrutiny last month when a man who needed an ambulance after experiencing a seizure at a grocery store became combative, had to be controlled by a TASER, was arrested, refused medical attention, was released then was found dead on a sidewalk outside the Union County Jail in Creston 15 minutes later.
Ver Meer said he had no qualms about taking over a department with a tarnished image, adding, "I met with the mayor and some of the officers. I think they have a good department and are ready to move forward."
Ver Meer applied in August and was interviewed last week.
"We decided on Paul for several reasons," Creston Mayor Warren Woods, who was on the panel that queried five finalists, told The Times Herald. "First of all, he's got leadership experience. He's led the drug investigations there in Carroll. We've got a fairly young police force with two more young officers coming on, so training is very important to us at this time, and Paul's got extensive training and has even been training the trainers. And finally, he's got a great personality."
Woods, a longtime city councilman and first-year mayor, said the community and department are eager to move forward.
"We have a great nucleus of police officers. The guys hung together really well through all this," he said. "I think morale is good. The community's respect for the police department is increasing."
Other finalists for the chief's position were acting Creston chief Brian Burkhalter, Sgt. William Daggett of Waukee, officer Jerome Hill of Perry and former chief David Lanning of Holton, Kan.
Woods announced the hire Monday. Ver Meer spent Wednesday at his new department, meeting with officers and city officials. He'll be in Creston one day per week until officially taking over in 24 days.
"I just need to get my face out there, meet people in the community and learn what's going on with the department, see what needs to be addressed immediately and what can wait," he said.
"The big thing will be getting to know the officers and learning their police policies. Creston does a lot of things differently than we do in Carroll."
At approximately 7,500, Creston's population is one-fourth smaller than Carroll's. The Union County seat has several major employers including Bunn, a manufacturer of household appliances; Fansteel/Wellman Dynamics, a supplier of sand-casted components for military and commercial aircraft; a Trolli Gummi Bears plant; and Southwestern Community College.
The 12-member police department has eight patrol officers, two sergeants, a captain and the chief.
"Creston and its department are the right size for me," related Ver Meer, who will mark his 17th anniversary with the Carroll PD on Monday. "They've got the same crime issues Carroll has. They've got thefts and burglaries and some drugs. I don't think it's out of the ordinary compared to any other town in Iowa."
Ver Meer said one focus will be to boost the training level of his officers.
'Training is big with me," he said. "I intend to do a lot of it, both in-house and at the (Iowa Law Enforcement) Academy."
Ver Meer laughs while recollecting that when he joined the Carroll PD in 1991 he expected to gain experience here for a few years, then move to a flashy job with a big-city police force.
"I never thought I'd be here 17 years," he said. "When you're young, you always want the exciting job. But the older you get, the more you learn that where it's at is having a good job and enjoying what you do."
He also said he learned volumes from chief Jeff Cayler and Capt. Mark Heino.
"They're both extremely knowledgeable and are great at communicating with the officers," he said. "And all the other officers have been good friends. We've had a lot of good times working together."
Ver Meer said his most memorable cases in Carroll were the kidnapping of a young girl from a store in 1996 and several major drug arrests in the mid-1990s.
"I've always been proud of our department's aggressiveness in getting drugs off the street," he said. "And Carroll offered me all the training I ever wanted.
"I couldn't have asked for a better place to start," he joked, as if his 17-year tenure in Carroll was a stepping-stone job.
Ver Meer said he expects to commute to Creston until he and wife Robin sell their home in Carroll. Robin, a 13-year veteran of American Home Shield, is a home agent and hopes to continue her job at Creston.
"We're both going to miss Carroll a lot," said Paul. "But we're both looking forward to Creston.
"I'm excited about becoming a chief. I'm naturally a little nervous about leaving my comfort zone of 17 years, but I'm ready."
Cayler concurs, saying that Creston's getting a fine chief.
"Since becoming a sergeant, Paul's learned a ton about management issues," said Cayler. "He's moving to a town and a department he's not familiar with. Everything will be new to him. Sure, there will be challenges, but I have no doubt that he's ready."
The Carroll Civil Service Commission will replace Ver Meer by calling for applications to fill patrol and sergeant positions. The department hasn't had to hire an officer in nearly a year, and the last sergeant promotion occurred in early 2006.
Delaying the hire until spring will offset the nearly $6,000 expense of sending a new officer to the academy, Cayler said.
