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McKenzie set the standard for public service

In the game of good cop, bad cop, Dean McKenzie liked the role of good cop.

McKenzie, who served as Walworth County sheriff from 1986 through 2000, died Thursday Fairhaven Retirement Community in Whitewater at the age of 72.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 20 at First United Methodist Church, 145 S. Prairie St., Whitewater. (MAP)

Burial, with military honors, will follow at Hillside Cemetery.

McKenzie set the standard for public service in Walworth County. He was both easily accessible, and easily re-elected.

Despite his affable exterior, he was a guy that got things done.

When the Walworth County Drug Unit began in the 1990s -- a cooperative effort among several local law enforcement jurisdictions -- he invited journalists to tag along.

Former Delavan Enterprise editor Eric Petermann and I spent a long night with one of several under cover officers following a suspected drug dealer.

In the end, there was no big flashy bust, and I remember McKenzie seeming to enjoy making the point that law enforcement really wasn't like it was on TV.

McKenzie also was instrumental in getting Walworth County Board approval for the current Law Enforcement Center. Before the move, the sheriff's office was in cramped quarters in downtown Elkhorn.

When the building opened, however, a controversy erupted over McKenzie's desk. I can't remember now how much it cost, but many in town were upset over what they saw as an extravagant expense.

In typical McKenzie fashion, he neither stonewalled, nor apologized. He invited the media in for photos of the infamous desk. We all ran our stories about the controversy, and the dust up was quickly was forgotten.

McKenzie was as savvy a politician as he was a cop.

His plain-spoken manner was welcomed by the media, and McKenzie was as comfortable in a coffee shop shooting the breeze as he was holding a press conference for national media.

During the KKK rally on the courthouse lawn in the late 90s, or following the incident when a suicidal driver plowed his car into a propane tank out side of Walworth, McKenzie patiently answered questions until all the news crews got what they needed and headed out of town.

McKenzie had his own style, and it left an impression on how future public servants handle their jobs.