After four decades in law enforcement, Steve Meinberg says he picked the right line of work.
Meinberg, who worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and two police departments in the county, retired Tuesday after leading the Hillsboro Police Department for the past five and a half years.
“I’ve liked every aspect this career has offered me – road patrol, detective, administration,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed all of it.”
However, he noted, police work has its ups and downs.
“Working with people is the most satisfying thing, but this job can be very frustrating,” he said. “You want to help people badly. Sometimes you can’t.”
Meinberg entered law enforcement on July 16, 1980, after serving in the U.S. Air Force from 1976 to 1980. His first job in law enforcement was at the Crystal City Police Department, where he started as a patrolman and rose to the rank of detective lieutenant. In 1989, he took a job as chief of the Nixa Police Department.
In 1993, he joined the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and stayed there until 2017, when he retired as lieutenant colonel/undersheriff after losing a race for sheriff to current Sheriff Dave Marshak.
Meinberg is an FBI National Academy graduate and served as a deputy commander of the St. Louis Area Major Case Squad.
In January 2019, the city of Hillsboro hired him to be “police administrator” during a time when the Board of Alderpersons considered eliminating the city’s police force and contracting with the Sheriff’s Office for policing services. City leaders credited Meinberg with turning around the department, and he ended up remaining with the Hillsboro Police Department after originally agreeing to just temporarily fill in while city officials sought a permanent chief.
Later, however, he was named the chief.
Meinberg said he has witnessed a lot of memorable moments during his long career, but one particular incident really stands out.
In November 1983, while he was with the Crystal City Police Department, the president of the old Commerce Bank on Main Street in Festus and his family were held hostage at their Crystal City home and the bank was robbed.
“The next day (after the robber held the Smith family hostage), they took (Bob Smith) to the bank, left his family tied up at their home and robbed the bank. They forced him to open the vault,” Meinberg said. “As employees started showing up, (the robbers) forced them into the vault. We later learned that the same people who did this a few months earlier had robbed a bank in De Soto. That was a straight bank robbery. No one was hurt in either of the robberies.”
Meinberg said the investigation stretched far beyond Jefferson County, with other police departments helping to eventually capture the criminals.
“It turned out to be an international deal,” Meinberg said. “They were stealing money to buy guns, then trade the guns for drugs in South America. They were all caught, and it turned out one of the people involved had lived in Crystal City.
“Two small things broke the case. Crystal City Sgt. Ralph Brown (who later also joined the Sheriff’s Office) had seen a suspicious car that evening and took note of it, and voice recognition by a victim, who noticed (the main suspect’s) tone and accent. The voice was identified by one of his victims based on recordings we made of him on a previous case. (The suspects) left town, and a federal agency picked them up out of state based on our identifications.”
Meinberg said another case that did not turn out as well also has stuck with him – the disappearance of a young Festus woman after she left work one night in 1987 from the old Venture store in the Twin City Mall in Crystal City.
“The most frustrating one I’ve had to think about to this day was the disappearance of Diana Braungardt on March 11, 1987,” Meinberg said. “She was never found. Her car was still on the lot.”
Braungardt was 18 years old at the time of her disappearance.
Meinberg said advances in technology have been one of the positive changes in police work during his tenure.
“When I started, we thought it was great just to have a cell phone,” he said. “These are no longer phones; they’re computers. They have so much more information at your fingertips. As time goes on, there’s more and more use for it. Of course, the other side has it, too.”
Meinberg said police cars today are nothing like they used to be either.
“The cars are offices now,” he said. “They have MDTs – Mobile Data Terminals. Unless officers are booking somebody, I never see them in the station.”
Meinberg said not all the changes he has seen during his career have been positive, though.
“People are more difficult to deal with,” he said. “There have always been vicious crimes. There just seem to be more now.”
Meinberg said he and other members of the Hillsboro Police force have worked hard the past few years to turn the department around.
“The immediate need was to stabilize it,” he said. “I think I brought leadership, structure and accountability.”
Mayor Buddy Russell said Meinberg’s contributions to the Hillsboro Police Department cannot be overstated.
“Steve likes a challenge, and this was huge,” Russell said. “He turned the place around, made it respectable. Right now, it’s the best it’s ever been.”
From left, Officer Michael Beutel, Sgt. Robert Gunnett, Sgt. Dick Tufts, Chief Steve Meinberg and Capt. Darrick Curtis.
Darrick Curtis, the new Hillsboro Police chief who was promoted from captain to take over the top job, said he appreciates learning from Meinberg.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to study under him the past five years,” Curtis said. “If you look at his resume in law enforcement, he’s a pretty impressive guy.”
Meinberg, 68, and his wife, Sue, live in Imperial. They have two adult children.
He said he plans to stay active in retirement and will continue to serve as a member of the Jefferson College Board of Trustees.
He previously served on the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Board of Directors and the Windsor C-1 Board of Education. He also was an instructor at the Jefferson College Law Enforcement Academy.
He has been a member of various civic organizations, such as the Arnold Rotary Club, the Salvation Army board of directors, House Springs Lions Club, Rock Memorial Sons of the American Legion, De Soto Amvets, Child Advocacy Center Board and the Festus-Crystal City Elks. He has served as an associate member of the Vietnam Veterans of America and the district chairman for the Boy Scouts of America River Trails District.
“My wife wants me to cut back on my activities,” Meinberg said. “She wants more time with me. But, I’ll be doing something.”