Keewatin Police Department

Earliest records of the Keewatin Police Department date back to 1908, with Matt Krisor as constable, followed by Andrew Johnson in 1910.  The first Chief of Police was Charles Vadnais in 1911.  In the early days, because of the number of immigrants who did not have command of the English language, an interpreter was hired for a court case at $1.12 per case.   On October 3, 1947, the Keewatin City Council approved a resolution offered by Clerk Toivo Heino to establish a Civil Service Commission "to bring about more uniform law enforcement, insure a longer tenure of office due to the abolishment of political pressure and influence and permit members of the department to avail themselves of the retirement provisions of the laws of the State of Minnesota."  The first members of the Civil Service Commission were Charles A. Johnson, Walter J. Johnson and Ervin O'Brien.  Sig Lindahl was Chief of Police at the time. Tragedy struck the department on November 15, 1977 when Officer Donald Mayerle suffered a fatal heart attack during strenuous apprehension of a felon.  He is sadly missed by all the townspeople and the multitude of friends he had in law enforcement throughout the state.