HURON – Kevin VanDiepen was 19 when he came to Huron in the early 1980s to accept a management job at the Domino’s franchise owned by his brother, Bob.
He had grown up in Sioux Falls, and while he now had a job here he figured such a small town wouldn’t offer him much in the way of other things to do.
But within five years, Huron had become his town.
By then he had found a career path in the police department – beginning in 1988 – and after earning his way up the ranks, VanDiepen has achieved his goal of being the city’s chief of police.
To serve and protect is something he takes seriously.
“The best part of being an officer is keeping the town safe for other people to enjoy as I did,” he said. “It’s a nice community where you can raise a family.”
Kids, like his own grandkids, can safely play in the yard, he said.
“To me, to make it safe for everybody to be able to do that is the best part of doing the job,” he said. “Making it so people can enjoy life and be outside.”
But, of course, there’s a downside of wearing the uniform.
Confronting what has become an epidemic involving methamphetamine takes up half of each officer’s time. While there seems to be no easy solution, it’s not unique to Huron. Every community in the country is trying to combat drug use, he said.
After working in the pizza business for four years, VanDiepen saw an ad for an opening in the police department.
He was married and he and Amy were looking around for a career for him that could support a family.

A month after he applied, he began his new job as a police officer.
“The career was a big part, something I would enjoy, something that changes every day,” he said. “You’re always intrigued by what’s going to happen that’s unknown.”
Like all occupations, much has changed over the years. Technology has given officers more tools to do their jobs, to decrease the risk of injury for them and the people they get in altercations with, and to accurately identify illegal drugs.
Officer safety training is also paramount.
When VanDiepen joined the department, new officers attended the law enforcement academy in Pierre for six weeks. Today, they train locally for 13 weeks before going to the academy for another 13 weeks.
“We’re trying to make it safer for the officers, but we’re also supplying better equipment,” he said. “The advances in technology and the advances in the equipment the officers carry on their person protects them.”
Body cameras and cameras in the police vehicles are also major assets.
“If it’s an officer-involved situation, we can review that,” VanDiepen said. “If it’s somebody saying an officer did something a certain way we can review that to make sure if it’s done right, according to our policies.”
While methamphetamine is a drug of choice across South Dakota, opioid use is also a concern. Meth is used primarily by 20 to 35 year olds, while 15 to 20 year olds are turning to opioids, VanDiepen said.
Fentanyl, an opioid used as a pain medication, can pose a danger to officers because inhaling just a small amount can affect them.
“They had incidents on the west side of the state where an officer was affected by something because they’re searching cars, and your skin can absorb this stuff,” he said.
A person under the influence of different drugs acts different ways, he said.
Officers carry tasers to use when they have to diffuse a situation.
“You don’t want to have anybody get hurt,” VanDiepen said. “And it’s on both sides, because if somebody’s out of control you want to control them so they don’t hurt themselves.”
When he was a member of the drug court team, he heard stories about what happens to those who are addicted to drugs like methamphetamine. They lose their houses and their cars, can’t pay their bills and turn to other crimes to get money to buy the drug, he said.
“So you’re trying to find a way to cure the people of their addiction, at the same time making them a more productive person back in society,” VanDiepen said.
“But it’s not as easy as everybody thinks,” he said. “It’s highly addictive. So people can be off it for six, seven, eight months and by chance they try it one more time and they’re back to square one.
“It’s a learned behavior that we wish wasn’t around, but it is, so we just have to find a way to combat it. The easiest way is to go after the supplier.”
Young people who become addicted will likely have a long battle ahead of them.
“They don’t understand it’s affecting their future,” he said. “It’s not just affecting them today, it can affect them forever.”

ROGER LARSEN/PLAINSMAN
Kevin VanDiepen, Huron’s new police chief, is shown in the dispatch center at City Hall. VanDiepen is a Sioux Falls native who first joined the police department ranks in Huron in 1988.