Monmouth Police Department Lt. Joe Bratcher was recently promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief by Police Chief Joe Switzer. Deputy Chief Bratcher began his career in 1998 as a patrol officer and has risen through the ranks throughout his career and was the recipient of the prestigious WQAD Beyond the Badge Award in 2024. Bratcher has been instrumental in the local training strategy for safety regarding active shooters and threats in both the United and Monmouth-Roseville School Districts.
“We went from a multi officer approach to now it is a single engagement approach. The school district has been really a partner with us going forward in securing the school because we all have to realize schools and churches are our most vulnerable assets to the community. They are what they call soft targets and that has been my approach always, is to harden the target a little bit, make it harder for people to get in there and hurt people. Most of the time when someone is looking to hurt somebody in a school or church, if they realize that building or people in that building have training, they are more likely not to go in.”
Deputy Chief Bratcher also served on the Monmouth-Roseville School Board of Education and is currently completing his masters in education.
