WINTERSET, Iowa — It's been one year since former Winterset Chief of Police Ken Burke passed away unexpectedly after serving his community for 20 years.
Burke was well-known in the city of over 5,000 residents, and was referred to as the "epitome of police officers" by people who knew him best. Burke would also sit in on city council meetings even when he didn't have to, because he cared about Winterset so much.
Now, a year since Burke's passing, the city, nor the department are forgetting the person he was.
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Current Winterset Police Chief Ryan Pittman, who was sworn in in December after serving as lieutenant of the Mills County Sheriff's Office for nearly 10 years, said the past few months in office have been a whirlwind.
He said that because he has had to learn "the different personalities and mannerisms of each officer. And kind of building that trust and relationship with them."
Chief Pittman said like any law enforcement department, trust and relationships take months and sometimes years to build up, because the loss of former chief Burk left a big hole in the department.
"They had this great chief, and this great person for 20+ years, and to be able to remember that, and, I hope the hole truly does never go away," Pittman said. "That way that legacy that he had could always stay."
It's a decades-long legacy for a department still transitioning into its next chapter, but truly not forgetting the past.