1950's

School Safety Patrol. Deputy Leland Chartier on left.	Deputy Ed Krock at Dispatch Desk.	New "stock" patch worn by many departments at the time.	Department Photo. Sheriff James Marshall 4th from left, first row.

The 1950's saw a dark spot for the Sheriff's Department as Sheriff Leonard Jensen was sent to jail for perjury and racketeering in 1952. A US Marshall, Lyle Milligan, was appointed Sheriff by the Governor and held that position through 1953 until an election was held.  A young Kenosha News photographer by the name of Marshall Simonsenwas elected to the position which he held for one term. Affectionately known as Two Gun Simonsen and The Little Giant he stood 5'6'' tall weighed in at 130 pounds, wore a 10 Gallon Hat and a string bolo tie. In 1953 he drove a new sheriff's squad to New York and appeared on a national televison game show called Two For The Money. He won $150 and headed back to Kenosha to face the heat of the County Board. That may or may not have been his demise but he was defeated after one term. Rambler Station Wagons became the squad of choice as department operations were pretty much status quo as they had been in the 40's. It was not unusual for far West end patrol squads on the third shift to go back to the department on the opposite end of the county to take their " required naps" during the shift. Station wagons became the squad of choice as they made better ambulances.

1960's

Department Photo. Sheriff Floyd Hughes 3rd from left, first row	1962 AMC Ambassador Sheriff's Squad	Deputy Morray Sorensen at Dispatch Desk.

The 1960's saw several changes in the department uniform. The Ike jacket disappeared and patches were now placed on the uniform shirt. The standard Sam Brown belt was being used minus the wrap around strap. Supervisors with rank were added during the later half of the 60's. Up until the 60's, the rank structure was Sheriff, Undersheriff, and Night Supervisor. 3 Lieutenants were added to be shift supervisors, and Sergeants were added to operate the radio desk. In 1967 a County Board Resolution eliminated the politically appointed position of Undersheriff to the tested Civil Service position of Chief Deputy. Jail overcrowding was starting to surface with the County Jail being remodeled to house 60 inmates instead of 40. Civil unrest throughout the country led the department for the first time to purchase coveralls and riot gear to deal with anticipated riots. Written policies were now being developed but overall operations of the department still had not changed much from decades before.

1970's

	Department Photo Sheriff Polansky 7th from left	Courtyard between Sheriff's Dept. and Courthouse.	Exterior public door.

Sheriff's Dispatch.	Old jail booking area.	Old jail kitchen.	Dive Team

By the 1970's the department was expanding and had 2 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, and 7 Sergeants to command the staff of 61 Deputy Sheriffs. The jail started to house prisoners at the Milwaukee House of Corrections to deal with severe overcrowding. As a result a study was commissioned to build a new County Jail, a jail that was supposed to last until the turn of the century. Patrol operations saw the training of deputies to become EMT's as the department was still performing rescue duties. That changed by 1978, when all rescue operations were turned over to the local townships. Uniform changes saw the standardized sheriff's uniform patch give way to a custom made design for the department. The standard six pointed police cap turned into the familiar Sheriff's Stetson. The police shield gave way to a 6 pointed Sheriff's Star and leather goods went from brown to black. Deputy Sheriff's were no longer jailer's when in 1976, 8 civilians became the new correctional officers to start the process of civilianizing the detentions division. Construction was started on the new Public Safety Building in 1979 with the anticipated completion date of 1982. A Dive Team was activated to assist in search and rescue and evidence recovery.

1980's

Original Sheriff hockey team.	Kenosha County Public Safety Building	Original SWAT Special Teams Truck	Jeep patrol squad.

The 1980's moved in slow but became the decade with the greatest amount of changes the Department ever saw. The 80's saw direction from 4 different Sheriff's and starting in October 1982 the new Public Safety Building opened with a form of metro-policing. Sharing the new building were the Kenosha Police Department, the Kenosha Sheriff's Department and a new organization called Joint Services. Fleet maintenance, Records, Identification, Property and Evidence Storage and Dispatch Services were combined from both departments and managed by a separate civilian administration. The city jail was closed and the County Jail, now located on the second floor of the Public Safety Building , became the only jail in town which was designed to hold 189 inmates. Computers were added to the dispatch center, a county wide 911 system initiated, 357 service revolvers were exchanged for 45 automatic's, squads went from AMC Ramblers to Chryslers to Chevrolets, the DARE Program was initiated in all schools in the County, a county wide drug unit was formed, a Tactical Response Team was formed, and a SWAT truck was created out of an old Jays Potato Chip Truck. The SWAT truck gave way to a mobile command post commonly referred to MERV - Major Event Response Vehicle which was put together all with drug forfeiture money. The County Jail, although designed to go to the 21st century became severely over crowded and by 1989 the Sheriff's Department was once again sending prisoners to other county jails. A tragic water accident, in which a member of the Kenosha Police Department's Dive Team drowned in Lake Michigan saw the elimination of the City Police Department's and Kenosha Sheriff Department's Dive Teams.

1990's

	Motor Officers.

Pre-Trial Facility	Kenosha County Detention Center

The dawn of the 1990's saw even more changes and improvement to a progressive and fast moving department but only under the direction of two Sheriff's. A jail study and building program was initiated by 1991 and after a long and heated contested political struggle two construction projects were started by 1996, one a House of Corrections run by the County Executive and the other a Pre-Trial Facility run by the Sheriff's Department. Upon completion in 1998 and with new elected officials the Sheriff's Department now operates both facilities with a combined bed space of 600 with room to expand to 1400. Squad cars changed from Chevrolet to Ford Crown Victoria's and so did the color from brown to Toreador Red with new custom graphics. Laser speed detectors supplemented radar units, an Honor Guard with a Department Flag was added, the Dive Team was reactivated, Motorcycles were reintroduced after a 40 year absence, MERV was replaced with the SMC -Sheriff's Mobile Command, the only 3rd fully functional Bomb Unit in the State of Wisconsin was activated, Bicycle Patrol was introduced and a Snowmobile Unit started and recruitment brochures were introduced. The Department grew from 103 to 307 personnel with 178 being assigned to corrections.