Dennis (better known as “Emil”) Hintze started on the Merrill Police Department (MPD) on Dec. 1, 1967, and retired from the Department on April 30, 1997. He then joined the Transport Team for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office which he did for 21 years.
Little did Emil know when he did his best to keep the Merrill community safe as a Police Officer, that he would see the day when his own grandson would also join the MPD set on doing the very same thing. And he certainly couldn’t have imagined that two of his grandsons would follow in his footsteps to become Police Officers.
Benjamin Hintze, son of Steve and Dawn Hintze, was installed as an Officer for the MPD on Aug. 1, 2022, by Merrill Police Chief Corey Bennett and given badge number 159. It was pure coincidence, but that had also been Emil’s badge number when he retired more than 25 years prior. Emil and family were all there for the occasion.
Ben previously worked for the Ashland Police Department and moved back to Merrill along with his wife, Nicole, and baby son, Blade, settling down to raise their family in the Merrill community just three houses down from Ben’s grandparents.
Just a little more than one month after Ben was installed with the MPD, on Sept. 13, 2022, a second grandson, Hunter Hintze, son of Jeff and Connie Hintze, was installed as an Officer for the Marshfield Police Department. Marshfield Police Chief Jody Guerink looked on as retired Captain Emil Hintze was given the honor of pinning the badge on his youngest grandson’s uniform. Hunter had recently completed courses at the technical college and police academy and was embarking on his first job as a new Police Officer.
It’s enough to make a grandpa downright proud. Emil Hintze most definitely is, and so is grandma, Barb.
Emily reflects that things are a lot different now than when he was a Police Officer. “In those days,” law enforcement officers were treated with respect and appreciated, he said. He said he prays that our country will go back to those “old ways,” respecting and honoring them once again, not defunding the police, and doing what is necessary “to help make America great again and safe again!”
