Waldrup discusses new position as chief of the Mascoutah Police Department

ALTON - Former Alton Police Captain Scott Waldrup started his next chapter in life this week as the chief of the Mascoutah Police Department. 

Waldrup said he has spent the last few days getting acclimated to the new position. He said he is looking for places to move in the community. He has as long as a year to make the move from Alton to Mascoutah, but said he was sure he would not need that long. Waldrup said by spring he hopes to have changed his residence to Mascoutah, which is 20 minutes away from his close family, who live in Coulterville in Randolph County - a mere 20 minutes from Mascoutah. 

"The opportunity came up, and I had my feelers out looking for a change," Waldrup said. "I couldn't say no when it came up. The community is quite different and smaller. The crime rate is not nearly as high as Alton's, which honestly was very appealing to me. It's also a whole lot closer to my family. I've never lived so close to my family." 

His career in law enforcement began in 1985 when he took a position Fairmont City. He left that position in January 1987 to take a position on the Alton Police Department, which he left soon after to join the Collinsville Police Department. He left eight months later to return to Alton, where he stayed for the following 28 years. 

"It wasn't a good fit at that time for me," he said of Collinsville. "I went there for a significant pay raise, and because my wife was there. Eight months later, Alton was retesting. I retested with them, got hired back in December of 1988 and stayed there for almost 30 years." 

For nearly three decades, Waldrup worked his way through several areas of the Alton Police Department, starting in the patrol division before being promoted to the investigations bureau. 

"As a young detective, I had the opportunity to start the drug unit in Alton," he said. "I was proud of the fact that I was one of the first detectives dedicated entirely to narcotics. It was a high point in my career, and I learned a lot." 

That unit gained an additional detective with Waldrup, and has now grown to fit three drug detectives. During his time as a narcotics officer, Waldrup said he was most proud of his work with the Percy Bratton drug conspiracy case of 1991. During that case, Waldrup and other officers on the case discovered four kilograms of cocaine on an Amtrak train in Alton. 

"It turned into a federal drug conspiracy case with 13 defendants," he said. "We identified people involved in California and New York City with ties to the Dominican Republic. A lot of guys worked hard on that case, I did not do it myself. It diverted the pipeline of cocaine to the City of Alton for some time." 

Following that case, Waldrup was promoted to sergeant and eventually lieutenant. He served as watch commander and was made a captain soon after. He served in that role for 13 years before leaving the department. 

"I was blessed," he said. "It was a very honorable career. I'm very proud and honored to have worked with the men and women of the Alton Police Department. Alton is lucky to have them." 

Regarding his retirement, Waldrup said he only intended to serve as a police officer in Alton for 30 years, saying working beyond that does nothing to add to his pension. He said he knew he would be seeking the next step in his career in the near future. 

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