Speaker Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie
Posted
on Jul 23, 2015
Dave Bellows introduced our speaker Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.
Sheriff Leslie is the 20th Sheriff in the history of Dakota County, and took office in November 2014 as our own Rotarian Dave Bellows retired.
Sheriff Leslie shared some of the history of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office including that in 1849, the County of Dakota was created as part of the original nine counties in Minnesota. The population at that time was more than 1,000 Native Americans and 149 white settlers. In 1853, A.R. French was appointed as the first Sheriff of Dakota County.
In the 1930's was an era of change in the county marked by violence and organized crime activity. These changes were felt by the law enforcement community beginning with the murder of Deputy Rudolph Fischer at the jail by a burglar he had earlier arrested. Leo Pavlak, a South St. Paul officer, was killed by a member of the notorious Ma Barker Gang. Deputies and the Hastings Police Chief chased John Dillinger's vehicle over the Spiral Bridge. One of Dillinger's gang members was killed by a Hastings police officer.
Since then Dakota County has grown to be the third most heavily populated county in the State, following Hennepin and Ramsey counties. It is the fastest growing county (numerically) in the State of Minnesota. The Dakota County Sheriff's Office has grown to include nearly 200 employees.
The Dakota County Sheriff’s Office offers many services to the community including, Fingerprinting, Prescription Drug Drop Off, Gun Permits, Records/Reports, Crime Prevention, Internship Program, High School Mentor Program, Child Passenger Safety, Victim Information, Alcohol & Tobacco Compliance. In addition they have several Specialty Units that help support our area.
For more information visit, www.dakotacountysheriff.org