(Fort Wayne, IN)- A Forensic Scientist from the Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory of the Indiana State Police was recognized this morning for his 25 year commitment to the Department and to the citizens of Indiana.
Jerry A. Hetrick, 62 a Fort Wayne native was honored by Lieutenant Colonel Larry Turner, Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence and Investigations with a 25 year recognition award. Hetrick, who is a 1970 graduate of Snider High School, attended Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and in 1976, earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences.
Hetrick went to work for Beatrice Foods-Peter Eckrich and Sons in Fort Wayne as a Nutritional Chemistry Technician for eight years before moving to the microbiology side of their laboratory for the next two. From 1986 to 1988, Hetrick worked for the American Red Cross conducting lab and serological testing before moving to Iowa and working for that state’s Department of Public Safety as a State Drug Chemist in Des Moines for approximately a year-and-a-half.
Hetrick began his career as a Drug Chemist with the Indiana State Police on September 11, 1989 and has continued to serve in that capacity in the Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory where he helps handle drug-related cases for not only the Troopers assigned to the Fort Wayne Post, but for any requesting law enforcement agency within the 11 county coverage area of that Post. Hetrick has been married to his wife Nyletta for 34 years and they have two children, Andrew and Amy.
Photo 1: Department photo of Hetrick
Photo 2: From left to right John Vanderkolk (Fort Wayne Regional Laboratory Manager), Lt. Colonel Turner, Hetrick, and Captain Todd Reynolds (Assistant Commander of the Laboratory Division)
