Longtime CRPD and Eastern Iowa Airport officer Ken Washburn to retire

CEDAR RAPIDS - After four decades in local law enforcement, Kenneth Washburn has decided to hang up the badge.

Washburn, who spent 34 years at the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the last six years as public safety commander for The Eastern Iowa Airport's Public Safety Department, said his time in uniform has been largely positive. His last day at the airport is Jan. 6.

'I don't know of any real low points,” he said. 'Just like any job, you have better days, but overall I was very fortunate in my career. I've had a great experience.”

Washburn, 62, credits the support from his family, fellow officers and others he's worked with over the years as key to his career.

Washburn, who received his criminal justice degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, said he was interested in law enforcement at an early age, partially fueled by his mother's job with the FBI in the 1950s.

After college, the Cedar Rapids native returned to his hometown to become one of the first officers with the new Airport Public Safety Department in 1976.

The department - which operates separately from the Cedar Rapids police and fire departments - oversees law enforcement, fire safety, emergency medical services and on-site operations at the airport. The work ranges from running friction tests on the runway during snow removal to removing unwanted animals from the grounds.

The airport agency works closely with area police and fire departments, but Washburn said officers must be cross-trained in all four areas.

After less than a year at the airport, Washburn transferred to the Cedar Rapids Police Department, where he spent the next 34 years rising to the rank of lieutenant.

About 25 of those years were spent in investigations, where some of his most memorable cases involved crimes like fraud, embezzlement or forgery. One multimillion-dollar embezzlement case included overseas money transfers, so Washburn worked with law enforcement in Switzerland on the investigation.

He also worked patrol and was the recipient of the Medal of Valor, the department's highest honor, for his actions when his partner, Mark Fischer, was shot during a traffic stop on Feb. 4, 1979.

Washburn managed to knock the suspect down and arrest him. Fischer recovered and worked as a detective until retiring in 2004.

In 2011, after more than three decades with the Cedar Rapids department, Washburn retired, but then became the airport's public safety commander, returning to where he started his career.

'On Friday, I retired from the police department, and on Monday, I started here,” Washburn said.

But this time, his retirement is the real deal.

Washburn said his retirement plans are on the light side but that's the idea.

'We've got a couple of trips planned, and then it's kind of wait and see and go from there,” he said.