Ark Valley News - Right place, right time

Right place, right time
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: April 11, 2014

New police sergeant excited about serving his adopted city

Thomas Delgado may be a Valley Center transplant. But his roots are growing.

And they got deeper last week.

Delgado, a Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office veteran, joined the Valley Center Police Department as a sergeant April 2, a newly created position designed to add experience and supervision to the force.

Delgado said the move made sense to him and his family.

"I'm excited," said Delgado, who has lived in Valley Center for eight years. "I've got a vested interest. … I've got family here. We bought a home here. Our kids go to school here and I like to be close."

Delgado's law enforcement roots also run deep.

Delgado, 46, grew up in Hutchinson as the youngest of 13 children. His dad was a former soldier who spent his career in the aircraft industry. His mom also was retired from Cessna.

"All my family was involved in all the civil services, brothers, cousins, uncles, great-great-grandfather, everybody, law enforcement or fire department," Delgado said.

It was only fitting that Delgado joined the Army after graduating from Hutchinson High School and attending Hutchinson Community College.

And when he returned to Hutchinson, it made sense that Delgado applied for a law enforcement job.

He landed a spot with the Hutchinson correctional facility and then worked in the Reno County jail before joining the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office as a jail deputy in 1998.

A year later, Delgado was offered a position as a road deputy.

"A lot of it was just being in the right place at the right time," Delgado said.

He made a career of putting himself in the right positions.

Like the time in 2011 when he was tracking down a truck south of Wichita that was driving wildly through intersections. The truck had crashed and was engulfed in flames when Delgado caught up to it.

Delgado and another deputy pulled the man to safety.

"I was scared to death," Delgado said of the rescue.

The incident was recorded on a camera mounted inside a patrol car. The rescue was seen across the country.

Delgado and his co-worker received a national award of heroism.

Delgado spent 12 years as a road deputy, patrolling the southern part of Sedgwick County.

"I've loved it from the first minute I got in the car," he said.

Delgado said he learned a lot from his older brother, who was an officer in South Hutchinson.

"He's nosy," Delgado said. "He said, ‘If it doesn't look like it's right or seem like it's right, then chances are, it's probably not.' You've got a certain amount of skepticism."

Delgado was nosy last December when he helped Valley Center police track down a couple of suspected car thieves.

Delgado was on his way to work when he saw a suspicious vehicle approach him at an intersection. He called in the tag number and the vehicle sped off. The license plate came back stolen, and Valley Center police were able to catch the occupants near a downtown alley.

For the past two years, Delgado has been in charge of the sheriff's office offender registration program, keeping track of drug, sex and violent offenders. He said the experience taught him valuable lessons — particularly building relationships with the county prosecutor's office — but he missed patrolling the streets.

"I was catching people with dope or stolen cars a couple times a week," Delgado said. "With the county as big as it is, I would get into more stuff than you can shake a stick at. I'm happy to bring that experience to help here."

Delgado said he's ready for a slower pace in Valley Center. He complimented the department for its proactive approach to law enforcement, responding to problems while emphasizing prevention.

"When something happens, they're right there, they address it and they take care of it," Delgado said. "They work pretty hard."

Delgado said he views his job as a career advancement, even though he's moving from a large department to a smaller one.

"What this offers me is a good place to work that's close to home," he said. "There are a lot of good selling points to this. I like to be close to my family, and Valley Center is a good place to raise your children."

Though it figures to be a slower life for Delgado, he's not forgetting his roots.

"Nothing is going to change as far as doing your job as a law enforcement officer," he said. "You still have the same mindset — firm, fair and consistent. You're expected to do a job. You're going to do your job."

Valley Center Chief Mark Hephner said Delgado will add veteran leadership to the department.

"He has the rare combination of experience and excitement for being out on the streets and helping teach young officers," Hephner said. "His street knowledge is excellent. I think he'll be a good fit."

A committee that included law enforcement officials from other area police departments as well as a Valley Center attorney interviewed candidates for the sergeant position.

Four candidates were from inside the department. Delgado was the only candidate not previously employed by the department.

Delgado is the department's third sergeant and will share patrol supervision responsibilities with longtime Valley Center officers Sgt. Matt Vogt and Sgt. Lloyd Newman. Vogt and Newman grew up in Valley Center.

Hephner said the desk duties for the department's supervisors were keeping them too busy to devote more time to patrol.

"There were too many responsibilities for supervisors to be able to be out on the street like I wanted them to be," Hephner said.