VEST St Joseph County

05/03/2026

Michiana Crime Stoppers Spring Shred Event is just one of dozens of events VEST assists with yearly in addition to the emergency traffic control calls we assist police and fire with not only in St. Joseph County but also adjacent counties. In 2025 VEST members put in 2171 hours of event time and 524 hours of time in emergency calls. These nearly 2700 hours of volunteer time we can only do thanks to our dedicated volunteers. VEST is always looking for new dedicated volunteers. If you are interested in joining VEST click the link below and fill out the application or send us a message.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYTSyKtiAMU8faksti_0EVg8J3kBbFSgPDpzGOZQoQqRAE6A/viewform

05/01/2026

Vest units will be on site to assist with traffic

𝗦𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧 | You may have seen the news reports about Jackson Road being closed during our Spring Shredding Event tomorrow at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds... 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗬! This will not have a negative impact on the event.

➡️INBOUND TRAFFIC: Vehicles will still enter the fairgrounds off York Road through Gate 7.

⬅️ OUTBOUND TRAFFIC: Vehicles exiting the event will still, like usual, exit the fairgrounds off Jackson Road via Gate 4. However, there will be NIPSCO crews along the road conducting gas main work, so you can only turn RIGHT (east) on Jackson toward Ironwood and out of the closure zone.

Remember... we will be at the fairgrounds from 8 a.m. till noon tomorrow (Saturday) to help you get rid of all those unwanted and sensitive documents, thanks to our friends at Integra Certified Document Destruction!

It's a minimum donation of $20, which allows us to continue paying out rewards our anonymous tipsters, solving felony crimes and catching felony fugitives in our community!

See ya at the fairgrounds!

05/01/2026

Congrats!

After 40+ years of service, we would like to extend our warmest wishes to Assistant Chief Garry Fields on his well-deserved retirement.

Assistant Chief Fields began his career as a Special Deputy in 1985 and became a Police Officer in 1994.

Throughout his career, he served as a correction officer, patrol officer, dispatcher, Honor Guard, and School Resource Officer (SRO) at Clay High School. During his time at Clay High School, he earned the nickname "Corp" and not only ensured the safety and well-being of students and staff but also mentored numerous young individuals as a coach for the girls' basketball team and boys’ football team. A few even followed his footsteps and became Corrections Officers and Police Officers themselves.

In 2019, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Chief, overseeing the jail division, civil division, and our School Resource Officers.

We express our sincere gratitude to Assistant Chief Fields for his decades-long commitment to our department and to our community.

Please join us in congratulating
Assistant Chief Fields on his retirement.

04/18/2026

Vest wants to thank our dispatchers at St Joseph County 9-1-1 here at the end of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

We want to give a shout out to one of our own and one of our close partners who are dispatchers.

Renee is a St. Joe County 911 Dispatcher and is who Vest reports to during Notre same events. She has been a dispatcher for 16 years. She is a huge asset to our unit and we love working with her.

Lt. Pearl is in charge of all activities Vest works and is Dispatcher with Notre Dame Dispatch and has been dispatcher for 8 years.

Renee and Lt. Pearl work together to coordinate all events that Vest works at Notre Dame.

Thank you to all our dispatchers, and a special thank you to Renee and Lt. Pearl!

03/14/2026

Schedule change for tomorrow. VEST units will be out doing traffic for sugar camp days

03/13/2026

1:30p update, VEST is up 8 calls from the day. The wind is reeking havoc across the county use caution as you travel. Watch for flying objects we have seen the following objects fly by in the wind: trash cans, small tree limbs, books, small trash, etc. At times the wind is so strong it’s nearly blowing our units away as they direct traffic. See our photos from Edison and Quince that multiple VEST units and county highway are currently working…

03/13/2026

VEST units have been out since 5:30a today making 6 different locations assisting police and fire with road closures due to down trees, power lines and communication lines. If you see low hanging lines or trees turn around.

Currently we have had 7 vest units out working these different scenes.

Remember stop lights 🚦 that are out are 4 way stops.

09/19/2025

08/12/2025

Michael has been our key partner with WNDU for all the details we have done with them for Toys for Tots and the Pack A Backpack Shred Event. RIP Michael

08/09/2025

VEST sends our condolences to all those mourning this officers passing. To NWR Swat and St. John PD you lost a great man…

REGION MOURNS NWR SWAT COMMANDER WHO PASSED UNEXPECTEDLY

On August 8, 2025 just before 10:00pm, the St. John Police and Fire Departments were dispatched to Midwest Training and Ice Center located at 10600 White Oak Ave in reference to a man playing hockey who was experiencing a medical emergency and was also unconscious, according to St John Police Chief Steve Flores.

Upon officer's arrival, they encountered bystanders performing CPR on the man. At that time, St. John officers immediately noticed it was one of their fellow officers, Detective Aaron Amptmeyer. St. John EMS arrived and rigorously continued to perform CPR until their arrival at St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Dyer. ER staff continued life saving measures for several minutes, but unfortunately and sadly were unable to revive him.

Detective Amptmeyer started his law enforcement career at the Gary Police Department in 2005, transferred to the Dyer Police Department in 2007 and finally to the St. John Police Department in 2018.

Detective Amptmeyer was a highly decorated police officer who worked through the ranks of patrol officer, tac officer, detective and his most important and passionate position, Commander of the Northwest Regional SWAT Team.

Detective Amptmeyer touched so many lives and has been so instrumental in developing young police officers. He loved his SWAT team and all of the St. John Police Department loved him. He was a devoted father to his lovely daughter who he cherished more than anything in the world.
Aaron is loved and will be missed by so many.

“On behalf of the entire St. John Police
Department, I want to extend our deepest sympathies to Aaron's family. Aaron will never be forgotten.”