After 30 years of chasing criminals, Lt. Tim Osburn, chief of detectives at the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, has decided to retire on July 31.
On Friday afternoon the county hosted a retirement reception for him in the Callaway County Emergency Operations Center. Dozens of law enforcement officers from central Missouri attended the event.
Reflecting on the many complicated cases he has worked on over the years, Osburn said at this point they all seem to blur together.
After observing so much quirky behavior, Osburn said, almost nothing would surprise him.
"It's common in the Sheriff's Office for us to look at each other and comment about life being stranger than fiction. We see so many strange things. People couldn't make this stuff up," Osburn said.
But Osburn has learned to develop a sense of humor when chasing criminals as the county's top detective.
"Almost every day," Osburn said, "something funny happens. This is a good job. There's a lot of camaraderie among the people who work here. Sometimes, seeing the humor in things is the only effective way to deal with some of the things we see."
Osburn said law enforcement techniques and the technology involved has undergone drastic changes during his three decades of law enforcement experience.
"The methods and procedures now are almost unrecognizable compared to the way things were when I started in law enforcement," Osburn said.