COVINGTON, Ind. — A longtime fixture in the Covington, Ind., Police Department will turn in his badge Friday, and report for duty in the classroom as an instructor this fall.

Knecht will retire after 32 years as a Covington police officer. He has been police chief since 1980.

“When I started, you knew the people and the families,” he said.

In today’s society, that can be more difficult.

“We try to be pro-active,” he said. “We go into the schools. We talk to the kindergarten about staying away from people they don’t know. In the second grade we teach bike safety. We progressively go through the school.”

Knecht said he has a good rapport with the area schools. And that is one reason why he is taking the next step teaching a law enforcement class.

“That way I will still have some contact (with police work),” he said.

Currently, 12 students are signed up for the class from the four schools in Fountain and Warren counties in the cooperative.

“It is a competitive class for juniors and seniors interested in pursing law enforcement or secondary education,” he said. “They have to have a background check.”

The class is 2½ hours each day. The rest of the school day Knecht will be a student resource officer.

In Knecht’s 32 years on the Covington police force there has been only one murder — in 1978 — but numerous fatal accidents on U.S. Route 136 and Interstate 74 that he has covered. He especially remembers three high school students killed in a wreck, also in 1978.

“We’ve had our share of burglaries,” Knecht said. “When I started, it was fights and drunks. Now, drugs are a lot worse.”

City Councilman Max Keller was police chief when Knecht was hired as a police officer.

“I knew he would be a good officer,” Keller said. “Tony is a very personable person. He works well with the public. He has developed the department. He has a lot more equipment than we had.”

Keller, another longtime police chief, retired in 1979. Eight months later, Knecht was named police chief. Knecht heads a force of six full-time police officers and four part-time officers. Larry Weber, a longtime police officer, will replace Knecht as chief. They average 5,000 to 6,000 calls a year.

“Thirty-two years is long enough,” he said. “It is time for a change.”

Although he switched his majors a couple time at Indiana State University, he has not regretted going into police work.

“You have to want to be a police officer,” Knecht said. “You have to want to do what you are doing.”

KNECHT FILE

Name: Tony Knecht

Position: Covington Police Chief

Age: 54

Education: Graduate of Covington High School; bachelor of science degree from Indiana State University

Experience: Part-time in the Fountain County Sheriff’s Department while in college; police department at Toledo, Ohio; 32 years with the Covington Police Department and as police chief since Jan. 1, 1980

OPEN HOUSE

An open house for retiring Covington Police Chief Tony Knecht will be from noon to 3 p.m. EDT Friday at the city building, 1329 Second St.