French takes on new role as county’s 1st female sergeant

Stephanie French says she “never planned on being a cop.” She may never have planned it but earlier this month she became the first female sergeant for the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
French has actually been part of the department since March of 2008 when she began working as a part-time transit officer. She became a part-time deputy in 2013 and later was promoted to a full-time position.
French is originally from Rochester and her career plans had involved working in the travel industry and as a private investigator for insurance fraud for a company out of Chicago. But a law enforcement career had never entered her mind.
When she applied for the transport officer job, she said, she was a stay-at-home mom and it was simply a way to earn extra money for the family.
What changed her mind about a long-term career, she said, was encouragement she received from Capt. Loring Guenther.
“Until Loring said ‘you would make a good cop’ I never thought of it,” French said.
“He was a wonderful guy,” she said of her mentor. “I don’t know he ever knew it. He showed me my path.”
Guenther died in 2013.
It was with his encouragement that she decided to return to school at Rochester Community Technical College to earn her law enforcement degree. She continued to work as a transport officer after receiving her degree until appointed to the part-time deputy position. She became the second full-time female deputy hired in the county, said Sheriff Scott Rose.
Although she didn’t start out wanting a law enforcement career, she has grown into the role and for the last five years, she said, her goal has been to be a sergeant. She has taken additional online classes, she said, and has become a SKILLS instructor for RCTC and an active shooter instructor for a southeast Minnesota program where she teaches law enforcement and first responders throughout the area. She is also a firearms instructor for the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
She also serves as the lead in a peer support program that was started in the Sheriff’s Office in the fall with a focus on mental health. This has been the perfect time to talk about mental health, she said.
Like nearly every other area of life, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought changes to law enforcement.
There are no more ride-a-longs by the public with deputies and when responding to a medical call the deputies no longer go inside with the first responders. The dispatchers try to vet the calls, she said, and deputies are using more protective equipment. When responding to a call, she said, they may ask a person if they can come outside to speak with the deputy.
In her new role as a sergeant, she said, she is responsible for leading her crew of five on the night shift. She will still be responding to calls and will also serve as a back up to the others. It is a 12-hour shift, she said, adding that “everybody starts on nights.”
As for being one of the first female deputies in Dodge County, “no one ever made me feel unwelcome,” she said. “Scott has been a big supporter,” she said of Rose.
“We are so proud of Stephanie and all of her accomplishments over the past several years here,” Rose said. She is a natural when it comes to training, he said, adding she enjoys it and that is why she is good at it.
Her natural ability to connect with people and make them feel comfortable with her makes her a great deputy and will make her a great sergeant.
“I think one of the things our staff really respects about Stephanie is that she is honest. She doesn’t beat around the bush, she doesn’t sugar coat things, she just says it like it is – never in an offensive or condescending way, but in a confident respectful way to let you know where she’s at,” Rose said.
Outside of her life in law enforcement, French and her husband, Jason, live outside of Mantorville with their two sons, ages 20 and 17.
French said she enjoys what she is doing and has no plans to do anything else. “I will be at Dodge County my entire career,” she said.
Rose apparently agrees. “She could be Dodge County’s first female sheriff someday,” he said.