By SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
BUHLER — In a town like Buhler, everybody knows Anthony Baldwin.
For the last 32 years, Baldwin has been one of the most familiar faces in the community, whether it was in a patrol car, inside the schools or at just about any event around town.
At the end of the month, that chapter will come to a close.
Baldwin will officially retire April 30 from the Buhler Police Department after 32 years of service, wrapping up a career that became about much more than law enforcement in the town of just over 1,300 people.
“I hope that they remembered that I tried to do the best I could,” Baldwin said. “And then just care, just care about people.”
That is probably the best way to describe what Baldwin has meant to Buhler.
Over the past three decades, he has done far more than answer calls and wear a badge. He has spent years building relationships, showing up for kids, helping with community events and becoming someone people in town have simply come to count on.
A career that was supposed to be short-term
Law enforcement was always the plan for Baldwin.
His father, Ronald “Ray” Baldwin, spent years in law enforcement and most recently served as a captain in the Reno County Sheriff’s Department reserves before his death in 2001. Baldwin’s grandfather and other relatives also worked in the profession.
So by the time Anthony Baldwin was in kindergarten, he already knew what he wanted to do.
“Ever since kindergarten, I wanted to be a police officer and serve the community,” Baldwin said.
When he turned 21, he applied for a few jobs. Buhler gave him an opportunity.
At the time, he did not think it would become a lifelong stop.
“I said, I’ll stay here for a few years and get some training, and then move on to a bigger department,” Baldwin said. “And that was 32 years ago.”
Instead, he decided to stay.
He married Amy, who now serves as secretary at Buhler Grade School. They raised their daughter (Sammi) in the community. The department he once viewed as a stepping stone became the place where he built both a career and a life.
“No, it doesn’t seem like it’s been 32 years by far,” Baldwin said. “It’s been a really good career, and I’m really, truly blessed to be here.”
Baldwin said the support he received from city leaders over the years allowed him to do more than just the standard duties of the job. He has served under five mayors and countless council members, and he said that trust gave him the freedom to become more involved in the community itself.
More than just a police officer
Baldwin was promoted from patrolman to captain in 2017. He has became the officer who stopped to talk with people. He became a regular at community events. He became someone kids knew by name and families felt comfortable around.
“There’s so many things that I’m going to miss the most,” he said. “I guess the biggest thing to me was, you know, and sometimes I almost had to feel guilty because I did what I wanted to do when I was on patrol. If I wanted to stop and talk to people, I could stop and talk to people. If I wanted to hang out at a community event, I could do that.”
That freedom helped define his career.
It is also why so many people in Buhler know him simply as Anthony.
“As mayor and as a friend, I can confidently say that Buhler is a stronger, kinder place because of Anthony,” Buhler Mayor Ryan Wray said. “His decades of service were more than just law enforcement, they were about caring for every person in this community.”
Wray said Baldwin’s impact will remain long after his final day in uniform.
“Anthony has been an example of what it means to lead with heart, and his impact will remain throughout Buhler long after he hangs up his badge,” Wray said. “As he steps out of his police officer role, Anthony will continue to have a presence in our community. We’re grateful, and we wish him the absolute best in his well-earned retirement.”
A familiar face for kids
One of the biggest parts of Baldwin’s impact has been the way he has connected with kids in the Buhler school district.
Buhler does not have the dedicated school resource officer setup many larger districts have, but Baldwin and the department have filled that role in their own way for years.
He has spent time in the schools. He has had lunch with students. He has become a trusted face for kids who needed encouragement or just a positive interaction with law enforcement.
“We do have that luxury here of having more time to detail and say, ‘You know, I’m going to go have lunch with this kid, because he struggles at school,’” Baldwin said. “So if he’s having a good day or a bad day, I might get a phone call and say, ‘Hey, do you want to have lunch today?’ And I’ll go up to the grade school and just give them a positive interaction with law enforcement.”
That has always mattered to him, especially because not every child has had positive experiences with law enforcement elsewhere.
“Sometimes these kids don’t have that positive interaction with law enforcement,” Baldwin said. “And I try to make sure that even though I have to do my job, I try to make sure it’s at least a positive interaction.”
That approach may be one of the biggest reasons Baldwin has made such a lasting mark in town.
In a small community, trust is built long before a call for service ever comes in.
The moments he remembers most
Ask Baldwin what stands out most from 32 years in law enforcement, and he does not start with major cases or dramatic calls.
There have been tragedies, he said. There have been hard days.
But the moments that stay with him most are the ones that came later.
In a career spent watching generations of kids grow up, Baldwin said some of the memories that mean the most are seeing people turn their lives around.
“You see kids from generations of kids,” he said. “I think the ones that I’m more happy about and the things that stand out to me is we have those kids that maybe weren’t very good when they were younger, and they were ornery, or just horrible little kids maybe.”
Some of those kids struggled. Some got involved with drugs or violence.
But Baldwin has also watched many of them come back to Buhler as adults, clean, working, raising families and becoming part of the community themselves.
“Those are the ones that I like to see,” he said. “Those are the ones that stand out most to me.”
That answer says a lot about how Baldwin approached the job.
After 32 years, what meant the most was not the ticket or the arrest.
It was seeing someone get their life back on track.
Still part of Buhler
Baldwin’s story only really makes sense in a small town. His work has never really been limited to his shift.
He has long been involved in community events, including serving as the leader of Buhler’s annual Spark in the Park celebration near the Fourth of July. He also owns Baldwin Lawn Care, the part-time business that will now get more of his attention in retirement.
For Baldwin, serving the town has always meant more than policing it.
That is why retirement does not really sound like a goodbye.
He plans to spend more time with family, continue growing Baldwin Lawn Care and travel to Alaska this summer to visit his daughter and son-in-law, who serves in the military.
“I’m not old enough to where I can’t work, and I don’t think that I could sit still,” Baldwin said.
He is stepping away from the uniform, but not from Buhler.
“I can still do all that,” Baldwin said of stopping to talk with people and being around community events. “I just won’t be in a uniform and I won’t be driving a patrol car.”
And in a town like Buhler, that probably will not change much.
A chance for the community to say thanks
The City of Buhler will host a retirement celebration for Baldwin from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, at City Hall, 219 N. Main St.
For a man who has spent 32 years looking out for the community, it will be a chance for the community to return the favor.
Because for 32 years, Anthony Baldwin has been more than Buhler’s police captain.
He has simply been Anthony.