By Joe Bachman

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Officer Cody Wetterau was recognized as the 2017 Wisconsin Rapids Police Officer of the Year.

Nominations were taken over the last few months, and Wetterau was picked for his service not just in the call of duty, but above and beyond for his work in the community. Wetterau is a Wisconsin Rapids native who graduated UW-Platteville with a degree in criminal justice. He returned to the region afterwards to take a position as Reserve Deputy for the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Wetterau took after his father Tad, who served as a detective in the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department, and moved to a patrolman in August of 2009. He was appointed School Reserve Officer in 2015.

“Cody has excelled in his position, gaining the respect of adults and students he works with.” said Wisconsin Rapids Citizens Police Academy Alumni President Margo Dakins.

As with any celebration, cake was on hand for the ceremony for Officer Wetterau. (City Times Photo)

Wetterau is the coach for the Lincoln High School cross country track team, and also works with the Mayor’s Youth Council. Much was written about Wetterau in the nominations — below is a few excerpts of just some of the things community members and students had to say about him.

“Cody is an amazing person, track coach, and officer. He is always open and ready to talk to anyone about anything.”

“He does his best to understand everyone’s problems and resolves them to the best of his ability.”

“He impacts the school with his positive attitude everyday, and makes being in a school environment really great — He is truly one of the kindest and most positive people I know”

“I don’t think I do anything different than anyone else does in our department,” said Wetterau. “It’s an honor to be up here — I know a lot of guys were joking that they would nominate me for this and I thought they were joking — but it’s greatly appreciated. I love being here, I love my position at Lincoln — thank you all.”