Kasel looks to bring lessons from the schools in his new role with Kasson PD

Eight years ago Jesse Kasel was in his first year as the D.A.R.E. instructor for the district, teaching classes full of fifth graders who would make up the K-M Class of 2024.
As fate would have it, those fifth graders would cross the graduation stage as he serves in his last full year as the school resource officer for the District.
Last month on the recommendation of Police Chief Josh Hanson, Kasel was selected as the new sergeant for the department.
Now or Never
Unlike some larger departments, such as the Sheriff’s Office, there aren’t many chances to move up the ranks in Kasson.
One of those rare chances came when Sgt. Jason Peck announced he would be retiring.
As Kasel explained it, the opportunity to do something new in Kasson, was now or never.
“It’s been eight years since the sergeant position’s been open so I had to make the decision, do I wanna advance my career or…essentially, if I turned it down, it would be staying here till I retire,” Kasel said.
Kasel, an Army veteran, didn’t begin his career working in schools.
But after eight years of his predecessor being in the position, he left, and Kasel took the opportunity.
Finding His Replacement
K-M is a tight knit community, so when the City Council last month gave Kasel a promotion, there have been a lot of whispers about what it would mean for the schools.
But Kasel, during an interview last week, said he is expecting to be back until his successor is not only chosen but trained, up to the standards that have been put in place.
“The tentative plan is I’ll be back next fall, and hopefully by then the new officer…the future replacement officer will be done with all the required training,” Kasel said.
He said from there, the idea would be to do some sort on the job shadowing for a few months
“until they’re ready to fully take over.”
“We don’t wanna just drop somebody in….we wanna make it as smooth a transition as we can,” Kasel said.
Kasel said more than likely his successor will already be from the department. He said one of the prerequisites to earn the SRO role, is to have experience, with a preference of five years as a cop. He said the hope is to have someone hired for the role by late summer.
But Kasel said it will be important to get the new SRO as much training as possible.
Kasel said through the National Association of School Resource Officers there are a number of courses available, from the basics, to more advanced courses and even “targeted” courses such as mental health for example.
“We try to get our SRO through as many as we can,” Kasel said.
Before the department even thinks about putting a cop in the school, he said they will be well prepared.
Some of it “you’re gonna learn as you go,” Kasel said, but said there are many things a SRO needs to be aware of, such as data privacy laws for schools, along with use of force rules.
Ups and Downs
Kasel worked as the department’s SRO for less than a decade, and he’s seen it all.
Covid-19, the district potentially ending the contract with the city, and this past year, when districts across the State removed their SROS after legislation was passed last year.
After the new legislation was passed, the vast majority of law enforcement professionals, and cities and counties, were concerned over whether or not officers could be held liable regarding the use of force by “agents of the schools.” They were concerned it could mean officers couldn’t use force they were trained on.
Kasson didn’t remove their SRO, Kasel said, noting the city and district have had an understanding for years about what each of their roles are.
“We’ve already had that relationship established with the school,” Kasel said.
Essentially each situation is looked at, and if there’s an infraction of a school rule, he stays out of it.
“‘I’m not enforcing your school rules and then they know that,” Kasel said.
Towards the end of the 2020 school year, K-M along with the other districts across the State moved to a virtual model, but Kasel would work during normal school hours, to help the district when needed, including with issues such as welfare checks for example.
Instead of sending a stranger to the door, the schools were able to send someone the students have seen in some cases for most of their lives.
But when school resumed, it was just a few months after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was later convicted of murder.
Asked what the reaction was from students, Kasel said “kids did react in different ways.”
“So much of it had to do with the way their parents reacted but…I looked at it as they’re reacting to what they saw on TV and my job is just be who I am and let them see that….some [police officers] make mistakes but that doesn’t mean we’re all gonna make the same mistakes,” Kasel said.
It was a challenging time Kasel said, his job in part, for the past four years up to that point, was to give students a role model for them to look up to in law enforcement.
“I think it helped everybody overcome it by just interacting and the community here showed a lot of support for us,” Kasel said. “So that definitely helped quite a bit as well.”
New Challenges
One issue Kasel has seen time and time again within the schools is vapes, a product once large and bulky that are becoming smaller, and easier for people to conceal.
“They’re always constantly evolving,” Kasel said.
Kasel said not only are they easier to conceal which poses its own challenges, there are also becoming more of them in schools.
“There’s definitely more of them in schools than there were years ago,” Kasel said.
In addition Kasel said with recreational THC becoming legal “we’ve seen [an] astronomical spike in the schools with THC.”
He said this year more students have been found with THC than in his previous seven years. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
While one may think edibles would be what is found in the schools, since they are readily available, and being sold in stores including the city’s municipal liquor store, Kasel said he’s only seen a couple of incidents of edibles being found.
“Most of them are the vapes with THC oils in them,” Kasel said. “It’s frightening because these devices are…well, over 90% THC in them.”
Regardless of whether people like it or not, cannabis products are here to stay, and will only become more readily available for adults 21 and older to buy when dispensaries are opened next year.
“It’s common whether we want it or not,” Kasel said. “There’s no doubt about it. But we gotta do a little more education.”
Back On Patrol
Kasel, will also be facing new challenges himself, in addition to starting his new chapter in a leadership role, he will also be going back to working the streets, full-time, for the first time in over a decade.
But during summer breaks primarily, Kasel has done patrol, meaning it won’t be much of a learning curve for him.
In fact, there have been many times he’s found himself in situations while working patrol, where his experience in the classrooms have helped.
“It’s just that experience… learning how to handle situations and…think of other options that you normally wouldn’t think of as patrol definitely helps,” Kasel said.
While working in the schools, he learned about patience, and he said when someone is in crisis in the “real world” it’s the skills he learned from interacting with students that have helped him.
“ I’ve seen it quite a few times where, you know, it ends up with myself and a Dodge County SRO talking to a guy that’s got a knife and just our calm demeanor gets them to calm down and work with us,” Kasel said.
He said after eight years, a number of parents, and students have gotten to know him, some who are adults now, some young people who may be out in the park during the summer, and when he is doing his patrols, and he walks up to them, just knowing each other has helped.
“It’s amazing how just somebody knowing who you are when you come up just deescalates the situation,” Kasel said.