 |
|||
 |
|||
 By K. Reka Badger
|
|
||
| Tall, sure and blessed with a winning smile, Dale Schade has spent his career negotiating the challenging path of law enforcement. As a member of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, he has helped to ensure safe streets, secure neighborhoods and the well-being of our area for over thirty years. Schade got his first glimpse of California when his mother moved the family to San Bernardino from his birthplace, Great Bend, Kansas. As a young man, he migrated north to pursue his passion for photography at Santa Barbara’s Brooks Institute of Photography and discovered that he never wanted to leave the region. “I started working in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1971 as a detective,” Schade remembers, “and became commander of the Solvang station in 1995. Since the early 70s, I’ve divided my time between Santa Ynez and Lompoc.” As a deputy, detective and later lieutenant, Schade patrolled the streets, investigated thousands of cases, commanded stations in Lompoc and Solvang and often doubled as a diplomat. Of all the homicides, disputes and legal actions that demanded Schade’s professional attention, one particular case remains fresh in his mind. “The one that had the most impact was the Mogenson case, in Buellton,” he remembers. “Mr. Mogensen was convicted of molesting his stepdaughter in the early 1980s and sentenced to twenty-four years in prison. “As the girl grew up,” Schade continued, “she said it didn’t really happen, but once someone’s convicted by a jury, it’s very hard to reverse it. “Eventually, the case was assigned to me,” he said, “and we set up a special office in the Royal Scandinavian Inn and worked until we came up with evidence to support her allegations of Mogensen’s innocence. It was gratifying to get someone who was innocent out of jail.” Number one case for cool factor may be when Schade caught two cattle rustlers red-handed at a cattle ranch out on Highway 1. During his search of the alleged rustlers’ truck Schade found part of a “No trespassing” sign under the drivers seat. Taking the portion to the field where a cow had been slaughtered, Schade matched it with the piece of sign left hanging on the fence. Through this and other evidence, the two rustlers were convicted of grand theft. Trespassing signs, cattle hairs, tire tracks and fence pieces are all a part of the specialized evidence deputies involved in the sheriff’s rural crime prevention program, established in 1981 under Dale Schade’s leadership. With positive feedback from local ranchers and farmers and accolades from the press, the program resulted in a significant drop in agricultural crime. The state of California even adopted parts of Santa Barbara County’s rural crime policy, which became a model for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South America in perfecting their own rural crime prevention programs. When Lieutenant Schade took over as commander of Solvang Sheriff’s Station in 1995 he inherited the volatile SCOR “situation.” Angry bicyclists complained about deteriorating relations between sheriffs and cyclists, and problems from locals during their annual SCOR Solvang 100 mile ride. Local merchants wanted to keep the estimated one million dollars in revenue that came with a visit from the 6,000 cyclists, but local residents had grown weary of swarms of unruly bicyclists clogging the narrow roads and wanted it to change. Determined to improve things Schade created a committee of bicyclists and officers, began a liaison with local schools and an outreach to Solvang Chamber of Commerce, Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau, the California Highway Patrol and Lompoc Police. His efforts paid off. A year later SCOR representatives wrote that the Solvang Century ride was once again a pleasant and successful ride. They credited Schade for resolving the problem. In 1999, Lieutenant Schade decided it was time to retire from the Sheriff’s Department, though beginning a life of leisure was not at the top of his agenda. “I’m still too young,” he says. “I have too much energy to sit in a rocking chair and whittle. That’s an old bit of Kansas, I guess,” he laughs, referring to the homespun expression. “It comes out every once in a while. “I retired and started being a Code Enforcement Officer for the City of Solvang, about twenty hours a week. This works out much better, I’m not so regimented.” As a Code Enforcement Officer, Schade’s mandate is to maintain zoning laws as adopted by the city council, respond to complaints and take corrective action, whatever it may be. He often finds himself dealing with issues involving signage and storeowners who clutter sidewalks with merchandise, sandwich boards and even barkers. “I know many of the merchants and it’s hard to say no to them,” he says. “You see them struggling with high rents or leases and they’re competing with other merchants, but they should be competing with Carmel and Monterey, not each other. “I feel badly for them,” he admits, saying Solvang can’t give up now. “If it’s sparkling and clean, tourists will want to come here, but if it’s trashy, people won’t come back.” In 2001, Schade founded a private investigation firm specializing in general surveillance operations, as well as surveillance detection and locating hard-to-find individuals. Two years later his son Erik joined him as a partner and together the two handle everything from jail interviews and accident investigations to forensic photography and marine search and salvage. “I’m going to expand this year,” he declares, “do some direct contact, get into criminal defense work. Prosecution is just one side of the criminal justice system and things can fall through the cracks.” In his not-so-copious spare time, Schade leads the life of an active outdoorsman, trying his hand at everything from rafting to reading the greens at the River Course. “I have a bicycle that I ride occasionally,” he says, “but I ride my motorcycle more often. My sons and I go hunting each year for quail and dove. “I have a 21-foot sport fisher that I take fishing in Mexico or Lake Meade,” he adds happily. “We take the motor home and my boat and park it by the water. In Mexico, I fish for yellowtail, dorado, sailfish and a few others.” When not on the job or on the loose in the great outdoors, Dale Schade simply enjoys the climate and scenery of the Santa Ynez Valley. “I think I like what most people do about the area,” he admits, “its friendliness.” |
|||
|
Copyright 2005, Inside Santa Ynez Valley Magazine, All Rights Reserved |
|||
