Prior to the 1970s the Police Department was housed in the basement of the city hall building. This building, which is still City Hall today, included a city jail and offices. In the 1970's Iowa began establishing centralized police and communications centers. As part of this development, in 1976 the Forest City Police Department, the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, and the Winnebago County Com
munications Office moved into the "old Forest City Hospital". This building, located at 216 South Clark Street in Forest City, also housed the County Jail. These cooperative, combined locations were, and still are, called LECs (Law Enforcement Center). In 1994 the Police Department moved from the LEC to the empty Robertelle Center building located at 525 North 4th Street. The County Disaster Office, now called the Emergency Management Office, moved into the LEC building. The Robertelle Center was remodeled by the city and included offices upstairs and a training room downstairs. The donation of a Forest City citizen allowed the police department to build a police garage behind the new police station. The Department is currently lead by Chief Douglas Jenson, a veteran officer with more than 20 years experience in Iowa Law Enforcement. Today the Forest City Police Department includes eight full time officers and two part time civilian employees. The police department also includes a squad of active police reserves. Business office hours for the police department are 8:00am - 4:00pm, Monday through Friday (except holidays).
