A southeast Iowa police chief will be going to the Olympics. Donnellson Police Chief Rod Russell will go to Salt Lake City in February, one of the hundreds of law officers who’ll patrol the Winter Games.The deadline for applying to be a volunteer security officer expired in June, but the evening of September 11th Russell decided to submit his resume anyway, and got a phone call asking him to help. Russell has already done his tour of duty in the military, and wanted to do something after the terrorist attacks. He says he’ll benefit from the extra training once he returns home.Russell will undergo two days of training before the Olympics start, and he’ll wear his Donnellson police uniform, and carry his service weapons, although he’ll be licensed as a Utah enforcement officer. Russell says he’s done some wishful thinking about going to the Olympics as a kid when he dreamed he’d run in the Olympics’ track and field events. Russell has been in law enforcement for 15 years.Russell, who is 37 years old, was a Fayette County Deputy Sheriff for a dozen years, and served as police chief in Manly before moving to the top cop job in Donnellson last year.
