Thein recognizes MPD leadership in heartfelt goodbye to Marshalltown

Lt. Tricia Thein will soon take on a new title as she is set to become Chief Thein in Decorah on July 19, but the longtime law enforcement officer will always have a special place in her heart for Marshalltown.

With assurance from Mayor Joel Greer that the three-minute time limit for public comments had been waived for her during Monday night's city council meeting, Thein took the chance to reflect on her tenure here and thank Police Chief Mike Tupper and Capt. Chris Jones, along with the late Capt. Brian Batterson, for their support through the years.

"Professionally, I'm super excited and ready for the challenges brought by this new opportunity, but mixed with the excitement that comes with a move such as this, a bit of sadness lingers at the thought of leaving Marshalltown," she said. "I feel very prepared for a chief of police position based on the guidance and leadership provided to me by Chief Tupper, Capt. Chris Jones and Capt. Batterson. The standards that they have set have been very high, yet they inspired me every day to strive to meet those standards. In all fairness, that led to some very, very, very long days, for the record, yet the years went by like lightning."

The decision to take the leap into a chief position in Decorah (pop. 7,747 according to 2021 estimates) was not an easy one for Thein, but she believes she is ready to take it on due to the "mentorship and guidance, competence and confidence, and the courage and the drive" she received from her chain of command. She then invited Tupper and Jones to the podium and noted that all three of them were graduates of the FBI National Academy, a prestigious honor in law enforcement which was compared to getting into an Ivy League university.

"Both Chief Tupper and Capt. Jones are foundational to me. Three words come to mind when I think of them, and (they are) leadership, courage and friendship," she said. "Chief Tupper started as my leader. He developed courage in me, and we end this chapter as friends, whereas Capt. Jones started as my friend, bolstered my courage and we end this chapter with him being one of my leaders. Both different and yet the same, same and yet different."

She cited their efforts to push officers out of their comfort zones and set goals and said all of her successes over the last several years were theirs as well.

"The following quote sums it up nicely. A true friend accepts who you are but also helps you become who you should be, and I'm a better person, a better public servant and will be a sound chief of police because of you two," she said. "Please know that as I go forward, Marshalltown will forever be near and dear to my heart. I will always be glad to be a resource for this great community in any way I can. The city is blessed to have a police department that remains in amazing hands with the current leadership, and the Marshalltown Police Department is blessed to have a mayor and a city council that support them in all of their endeavors. And I am blessed to have had such a small part in all of that, so thank you very much."

After the audience at the meeting gave Thein a resounding round of applause, Tupper then thanked her himself and assured her that she had earned everything that's happened for her over her 20-year career in Marshalltown.

"I have been amazed to watch you grow professionally and personally over the last 12 years and watch how far you've come, and I know you're gonna be a great police chief," Tupper said. "And I know that you have said that you would call me for advice. I'm guessing it's gonna be the other way around because I have often gone to you for advice, and I just want you to know that it's been my pleasure and my honor to be able to work with you for the last 12 years. And we're rooting for you. Good luck."

Jones said he and Thein had enjoyed a long working relationship -- some of it even spent in the same squad car -- and attributed her ability to complement him on some of his shortcomings as one of her best attributes.

"I've learned way more from you than I'm probably willing to admit publicly, but what you have taught me, even from the beginning when we were driving around in the same vehicle, you kept hounding me about how my career aspirations weren't everything in life and to pay attention to my family and things outside of work," he said. "Those are the things that I've learned from you and I will always take away (from our time). You've been a great friend. I'm so happy that you have been able to put up with me for all of these years, and I'm so happy to see where you are and where you're going."

Thein presented Jones and Tupper with plaques that read "friendship, courage, leadership."

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.