An almost 20-year veteran with the Jefferson Police Department recently took on a new position.

Jason Kroeger was promoted to captain at a Jefferson City Council meeting last month. He is a Glidden native and started his law enforcement career with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, where he was for 1.5 years. Then he joined the Jefferson Police Department in 2003 and has served 18 years. He talks about why he stayed with the department for almost 20 years.

“Jefferson became home. I built a life here, I found myself into a home, I got married. I think the key to being a cop for a long time is caring about the community you work in. And if your kid goes to school here, you have a vested interest in it being a safe place to go to school, your family lives here, your friends are here. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and I will do it until the day I retire. I think it’s an honorable thing to do.”

Kroeger has been a sergeant a couple of times over his 18 years with the department and admits now being captain, the job is more stressful and he looks at himself differently than he did before. However, Kroeger is happy in his new position.

“The honest truth is there was a void there that needed to be filled. I care about the department, I care about Jefferson, and I want the place to keep going, and I had to step up into that role to make sure that need got filled.”

Kroeger is happy with the other officers in the department and looks forward to continuing to develop the younger officers. Kroeger was promoted to captain on October 12th with an annual salary of $65,000.