Weinkauf accepts award

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM---New Ulm Police Commander Erv Weinkauf became the first police officer to receive the New Ulm Human Rights Commission's Martin Luther King Award on Monday.

The only other police officer given the award was the late New Ulm Mayor Bert Schapekahm, who retired from the New Ulm Police Department in 1993.

Weinkauf was chosen to receive the award because of his involvement with local youth groups like Healthy Communities Healthy Youth and the Special Olympics as well as his work to promote cultural diversity training for New Ulm police officers.

He joined the Brown County Sheriff's Department after serving a year as a military policeman for the U.S. Army in Germany during the early 1970s. He became a New Ulm police officer in 1974.

He also teaches several law enforcement classes at Minnesota State University in Mankato and has coached football and worked as a referee with the New Ulm Wrestling Association, which he helped found.

Tom Donnelly, past chairman of the commission said Weinkauf "continues the tradition of fair, quality law enforcement" in New Ulm.

"Because of his knowledge of New Ulm, he knows exactly what the community needs. He is the reason New Ulm is not just a place on the map. It's a community."

Weinkauf received the award at a reception at the Lind House.

"I am humbled to even be considered for this very prestigious award when I realize how many other citizens of New Ulm devote so much of themselves and work so very hard to build the reputation of our town as the 'City of Charm and Tradition,'" he said during his acceptance remarks. "I am indeed very honored to be added to the group of individuals who have been awarded this distinction before me."

New Ulm Police Chief Howard Zins said, "It not only shows what he does for the city, it follows the philosophy of the police department. Our motto is 'To Protect and Serve.' Ninety-five percent of that is service. The rest is protection."