Greenwood police chief retiring, Kohnert to serve as new chief

By Valorie Brecht and Cheyenne Thomas The Greenwood Police Department will soon look different, as the longstanding head of the department will complete his tenure to pursue other ventures. Bernie Bock will retire at the end of the year after 25-and-a-half years at Greenwood.

“It’s time. The policing world has changed a lot since I started, and the technology has advanced a lot. I’m not of that era. It’s time to do something else,” said Bock.

Bock joined the Greenwood Police Department in June 1999. He spent his first seven years as a patrolman and another two years as officer in charge. He was then promoted to chief. He said he had several mentors along the way that helped him in his role.

“Over the years, I relied on other departments and other chiefs for guidance,” he said.

In his retirement from policing, Bock plans to remain involved in the community.

“Our plan is to remain in Greenwood. It’s our hometown — our son has grown up here,” he said.

Part of that community involvement will include Bock coaching the boys basketball program, which has already begun. He will also be looking for a full-time job.

He said he was glad for the community’s support during his time as chief.

“I appreciate the fact that the Greenwood PD has had a great working relationship with the schools and community, and I hope that continues moving forward,” he

Please see Greenwood Police, page 4

Bernie Bock

Andrew Kohnert Greenwood Police,

from p. 1

said.

Bock will pass the baton to Andrew Kohnert, someone already very familiar with the Greenwood community, having served as a police officer with Bock for 16 years. Coming to the Greenwood Police Department fresh out of school, Kohnert said the community was the first that offered him a position when he began applying for a job.

“They were the first place that gave me an opportunity,” he said. “I graduated in May 2008 and started applying all over the place for full-time work. But I kept getting rejection letters because I had no experience in the field. I applied at Greenwood but I missed out at first because they decided to interview another candidate. Chief Bock called and told me that if it fell through that I would get a call back, but at that point, I thought that was it. A couple weeks later, I got a call from him asking me to come in for an interview as the first candidate fell through.”

Ever since then, Kohnert has been working for the Greenwood Police Department, covering the night shift. In his transition to his new role as police chief, Kohnert said he is starting to have his schedule shifted to daytime work alongside Bock to allow him to learn the ropes of the role.

“I’ve been working with Bernie and learning about all the day-to-day things that he has to do as chief,” said Kohnert. “I have spent 16 years on night shift, so I will have to learn about the day-to-day things and how to deal with the management aspects of the job. So there’s been a lot of communication between me and Chief Bock and trying to pull the wisdom out of his head and take notes. He’s been doing this for a long time and he’s the only chief I’ve ever worked for. I wouldn’t have wanted to work for someone else.”

During the next few weeks, Kohnert will continue to train with Bock in preparation for the change, which will take place after Bock’s final day on Dec. 27. The Greenwood City Council will also be working to hire Kohnert’s replacement on the night shift — a position that is hoped to be filled in a timely manner. Until then, Kohnert said he and the city’s remaining officer will do their best to split duties to cover as many hours as they can until the department is back up to full strength.

“The first thing they (the council) has to do is hire my replacement,” he said. “But the recruiting process can be tricky these days. There’s not as large of a pool of recruits out there like there used to be. I hope that after we post for the position that we can get an officer hired, but if not, we may have to look at sponsoring a candidate through the academy.”

After Dec. 27, when Kohnert is acting police chief of Greenwood, he said his goal is to follow Bock’s example in running the department and interacting with the community. He said Bock has done a great job as Greenwood’s police chief over the years and that his example will continue to inspire Kohnert as he works in his new role.

“I want to keep moving the department in the same direction,” he said. “Chief Bock did an amazing job and I’m going to be trying to fill his shoes as best as I can. In our line of work, we’re often interacting with people when they’re at the worst times in their lives. I want to be able to help bring them up from rock bottom and interact with the community in positive ways; be involved with the school district in positive ways and really get to know the people in town.”