Koch making smooth transition to Shelbyville Police Chief

New Shelbyville Police Chief Louie Koch’s first appearance before the Shelbyville Police Merit Commission came with good news.

Koch informed the commission at its monthly meeting Tuesday at City Hall that police officers Devin Moore and Adam Stafford received recognition from Shelbyville Central Schools over their handling of a recent situation.

SCS Superintendent Dr. Matt Vance contacted Koch about the actions of Moore and Stafford.

“The superintendent reached out to me directly and wanted to let us know how good of a job our guys are doing,” said Koch after the meeting. “I felt obligated to recognize that to the commission and a copy of that will go into their files. The school believed they went above and beyond (the call of duty).”

Koch was sworn in as police chief on March 23 at City Hall. Despite having 30 years of law enforcement experience, most recently with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, he was overwhelmed by the show of support at the ceremony.

“It was a jaw dropper. It was very touching,” said Koch. “The morning I was sworn in, there were 18-20 policemen in there. I honestly didn’t expect that. It hit me a little bit. It was really neat to see that.”

Scott Furgeson’s second stint as mayor began with him appointing veteran Detective Bill Dwenger as chief. Dwenger held the position until recently announcing his retirement. 

Koch, was had announced his retirement as Sheriff, was approached by Furgeson to step into the police chief position. His experience has made the transition easier but there are still differences to navigate between the sheriff’s office and leading the city’s police force.

“The sheriff has some constitutional duties, state law, is in charge of the jail, in charge of court security, in charge of all warrants, civil papers and on the road,” explained Koch. “The chief of police can hone down on that road patrol. You are not going into four different departments. You can maintain that one general thought and work on it pretty directly.”

Koch has started his new role by keeping the office door open and listening to those in the department.

“Guys stop in and talk to me in my office. They shoot me emails with ideas. That’s what I do,” said Koch. “As I told them all, every shift we’ve had a meeting, I told them I am there to support them and there to gather their ideas and try to turn them into plans for us.”

While the Police Merit Commission is less than one year old, Koch is familiar with the merit board process from his years with the sheriff’s department.

“Being in the sheriff’s department and being Chief Deputy from 2015-2019 and being the Sheriff since 2019 until I retired in March of this year, I directly worked with a merit board that entire time,” said Koch. “I truly understand the concept and need for them. They are a very impartial panel that are only provided the facts not the incident at hand. I fully expect this to be the same and it’s a positive.”

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