St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson has been named Wisconsin Sheriff of the Year, awarded by his fellow Wisconsin county sheriffs.

It’s the first time the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association has presented the award. The association is made up of Wisconsin’s 72 county sheriffs.

St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson (Courtesy of St. Croix County)

Knudson was nominated by Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener, who cited Knudson’s response to the tragic death of St. Croix County Deputy Kaitie Leising. Leising was killed during a traffic stop on May 6, 2023, in Glenwood, Wis.

“The leadership I witnessed from Sheriff Knudson is beyond words,” Wener wrote, “His actions to help the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office employees (begin) the healing process and to keep serving the citizens of St. Croix County has been absolutely exemplary and unwavering in his dedication and compassion.”

Wener also listed Knudson’s leadership in community engagement and public safety initiatives as reasons for the nomination. He said Knudson’s leadership style is a rare combination of vision, humility and genuine concern for members of the community.

True to those words, Knudson said he was humbled by the award, and that he accepted it on behalf of the entire St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the community members who lent a hand in fundraising efforts and outreach in the days, weeks and months following Leising’s death.

Of those efforts, the  Badger State Sheriffs highlighted “Take Action Honor Kaitie.” That effort sought to create a memorial for Leising and other fallen officers of St. Croix County, and to raise funds for Leising’s family and the sheriff’s office honor guard to attend the Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony in Washington, D.C., last May. The organization also raised money for ongoing mental health initiatives for local law enforcement officers and their families.

Currently in his 30th year of law enforcement, May 6, 2023 stands alone as the most difficult of Knudson’s career.

“It is one we hope never repeats, and, quite frankly, not for any agency. I think that’s the most difficult day that anyone in this profession could ever experience,” Knudson said.

‘Wanted to help people’

Knudson has been St. Croix County Sheriff since 2017, when he was appointed by then Gov. Scott Walker. He was elected in 2018, and reelected in 2022.

His experience goes deep within the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, where he previously served as a chief deputy, deputy jailer, patrol deputy, patrol sergeant, patrol lieutenant and patrol captain.

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He has also served as a volunteer firefighter in Somerset, Wis.

Reached by e-mail, St. Croix County Board of Supervisors Chair Bob Long said Knudson embodies the spirit of public service.

“As a supervisor, it makes our job as policy makers that much easier to have the confidence we have in a strong sheriff’s department with such strong values, professionalism and high integrity,” Long said. “For our citizens, it’s the comfort and confidence in knowing our law enforcement is truly there to help us and keep us safe.”

Asked why he first decided on the path of law enforcement, Knudson said the answer is simple.

“I don’t want to be cliche, but I wanted to help people,” he said. “That really is the goal.”

Dealing with crisis

In nearly three decades of law enforcement work, Knudson identified the biggest changes as those in technology – having a laptop on your person at all times, sharing information across agencies at the speed of a few keystrokes — and the various crisis intervention and de-escalation tactics that responders now have at their disposal.

In St. Croix County, the sheriff’s office can utilize crisis co-responders from health and human services who are trained in dealing with mental health situations or those struggling with substance use disorders. Adding those additional community resources make these situations safer, he said.

“Nothing is perfect, we’ve seen tragedies evolve quickly,” Knudson said. “But when you have the time, you have other resources you can call on. Thirty years ago, we didn’t have that.”

Knudson said he and his officers try to treat everyone they encounter with dignity, recognizing that officers can potentially change the path of those actively causing the situation, or of those living within the circumstances.

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Maybe it is responding to a domestic situation, removing an aggressive person and allowing children at the scene to be in a safer place. Maybe it is helping someone with a medical situation linked to substance use, trying to get them assistance.

“The bad incident we are dealing with is not necessarily indicative of the person, but of the crisis that they are in that day. Sometimes there are consequences of that crisis. But it’s not indicative of the person — it is of the crisis they are in,” Knudson said.

“I think we have an impact on people, and I am very proud of this profession. Do we always get it right? We sure try,” he said. “We are imperfect humans faced with and given imperfect situations, with the expectations of a perfect outcome. But we just do the best we can, with the resources available to us.”