Final Week for Chief Deputy Strand

Fond du Lac County Chief Deputy Mark Strand is just days away from his final time putting on the badge. Strand has served the county for the past 37 and a half years at the Sheriff’s Office – but he tells us it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. 

Strand says “if you enjoy your job, you don’t work a day in your life. And I tell you, I don’t know where all the time went, it doesn’t seem like all that long ago my three boys were young. So now I’m a grandpa – and it’s time we head on down the road.”

Strand also says it’s amazing how much the department has grown since he started all those years ago, because “when we first started, we were almost treated as cow-pasture cops so to
speak. But we grew and grew and grew, and now we’re larger than the city police
and fire department combined for employees.”

He also says the improvement of communication for deputies deployed around the county is great because “no matter where you are in the county, you get it. Your portables are
good, your squad radios are good, communication is so much better than it used
to be. But it was trial and error back then.”

Strand remembers his patrol days when there were areas where the radios would not pick up signal from dispatch or other deputies – and he would have to stop and use a phone to get in contact with them.