Reagan, Krohn step into new roles as BPD officers

Jill Meier

Journal editor

With the addition of two new officers, the Brandon Police Department has returned to a full staff of 14.

Joseph Reagan and Kevin Krohn began their roles as Brandon Police officers three weeks ago. Chief Jamie Steffel describes the new recruits as “very personable, likeable guys, energetic with great personalities.”

“We’re awfully excited to have them,” Steffel adds.

Reagan and Krohn say the feeling is mutual.

“I’m very grateful to be here, it’s my dream job,” said Reagan, who’s long envisioned being a police officer in a community like Brandon.

“It’s good to be here,” Krohn said. “I’m excited and thankful for the opportunity.”

Reagan’s desire to work in law enforcement goes back to when he was a 9-year-old kid growing up in Kansas City, Mo. 

“I had some issues at home with my real parents,” he shares. “There was a pretty bad issue going on with my parents where the police had to be involved, so I kind of got to see how it all played out once the police got there, and I knew that I was in a very dangerous situation.”

Reagan said the officers were able to resolve the issue and his parents were not harmed as a result of their action.

“In the back of my mind, I just admired those that put their lives on the line in order to make someone’s day better and keep everyone safe. So, that was my thought process,” he said. “Being from a big city, I kind of got a little bit tired of it … and I’ve always liked the smaller town atmosphere.”

Krohn, too, has long had a desire to be a police officer. His career path was largely inspired by his mother, who was the police commissioner of the Chicago suburb they resided in.

“Growing up, I got to see what it looked like,” he said. “After hours, if our light was on, officers could come and fill their coffee up at night or stop over on Thanksgiving and get some food because they were working and were not with their families, so I got to see the behind the scenes side of law enforcement.”

Krohn said Brandon reminds him of the community he grew up in. 

“At the time, it was the last suburb outside of Chicago; now it’s just one of the many. When we moved there it was about 12,000 people, so similar to Brandon. Now, it’s 28,000, so it’s boomed. But, growing up, I got see how the police officers did their job, served the people, how they got involved in the community and that’s just something I wanted to do, and Brandon has that same feeling to it,” he said.

Prior to his law enforcement assignment in Brandon, Krohn was employed by the Minnehaha County Jail for the past two years. And before that, he did campus ministry for eight years.

“That’s a little different than law enforcement, but I always wanted to do law enforcement. When I went to college, I got involved in campus ministry and it changed my life for the better, so I wanted to give back and do that while I was still young. A year, two years soon turned into eight years of ministry, but I still wanted to go after my dreams of being a police officer and transitioned into law enforcement then,” he said.

Reagan also brings prior experience to his new role in Brandon. The past six months he’s worked inside the state penitentiary as a corrections officer. After graduating from USD, he returned to Kansas City where he worked in TSA at the airport.

Reagan’s path to Brandon came via the University of South Dakota, where he ran track and field, and graduated with a degree in criminal justice and minored in addiction counseling and prevention.

After his girlfriend landed an elementary teaching job at Brandon Elementary for the coming school year, she spied a Facebook post regarding the police officer opening here. 

“I looked at it and it and went, ‘Hey, why not? Awesome, because we wanted to get jobs close to each other, so I gave it a shot, had my fingers crossed that it would work out for me and God just had a good plan for us, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” he said.

It was his wife’s family that lured Krohn to South Dakota. Although she grew up in Rapid City, her family has since transitioned to Sioux Falls. “So, as we started our family, we wanted to be close to her family,” explained the father of two girls, ages 4 and 1. The couple has been married for 10 years.

Both officers reside in Sioux Falls.

In their first few weeks on the job, both officers have observed Brandon as being a close-knit tight community.

“For me, being a police officer, I understand that I’m going to be a public figure in this town. People will see me, whether I’m in my uniform or out of my uniform, I guess I’d be perceived as kind of a role model to the citizens here, and even the kids. That’s kind of the thought that I had and I just want to be the best person I can be, build more relationships with a smaller-knit community here,” Reagan said. “My ultimate goal with this job is, of course, protecting and serving the citizens of this community, but also getting to know them more on personal basis and in a positive manner.”

In their ride-a-longs with fellow officers the last few weeks, Krohn said he’s observed that the community is supportive of one another and its many youth-focused endeavors.

“It seems like the community is behind all of it, which is kind of cool to see,” he said. “We’re both from Sioux Falls, so we don’t know this community, but as we step in it seems like we’ve been able to see the community step behind everything it does here and that allows it to be a good thing.”

Steffel said the two vacancies on the force drew several applicants, citing them as all “quality applicants.”

Both Reagan and Krohn will have 12 weeks of field training and will attend the academy in Pierre, which is a 13-week program. 

“It will be a little over six months before they’re done,” Steffel said.

Krohn is a true family man.

“My family is first,” he assures. 

As a family, they enjoy the outdoors, camping and fishing, and are heavily involved in their church in Sioux Falls.

“All of those activities allow us to spend quality time together,” he said.

Reagan is an avid golfer and works out daily.

“I used to run track in college, so upon being done with that I kind of wanted to keep in shape, because I know once you get older, it gets a little harder to do that,” he said.

 “We’re just both excited for the opportunity,” Krohn summed up. “Like Joe said, this is our dream jobs finally coming true and it’s nice to be in a town that’s supportive and active and a good place to be.”