Two Years After Low Staffing, Golden Valley Police Nearly Back to Full Strength
It was near the end of 2022. The Golden Valley Police Department was down to single-digit officers.
That’s a really low number considering Golden Valley is budgeted for 31 sworn officers.
Today Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green says the department is approaching full strength.
“We lost more than half of the department in a very short period of time,” said Green, who was hired toward the end of 2022, a time the department was in crisis.
As a result, the city had to contract with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office to cover daytime calls.
“We were lacking sergeants. We were lacking that experience. For me, it was one of those things, you think outside the box … How do you get people into a department with the positions we did have open?” said Green.
Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green spoke with CCX News on Dec. 12.
Golden Valley Police Hiring Strategies
Think outside the box they did.
Green and Assistant Police Chiefs Alice White and Rudy Perez led a rebuilding effort. That included seeking officers with five-plus years of experience who may have been looking for a promotion.
The city also recruited and hired from within the department’s community service officer (CSO) program.
The strategy took time. But it worked, said Green.
The department recently announced the hire of two sergeants, Robert Anderson and Joseph Magana.
It also hired two patrol officers, Nathaniel Law and Cory Salazar.
“I don’t think a lot of people expected the agency to recover the way we did, but it was just with showing people that Golden Valley is a good police department to work even though we had some challenges,” said Green.
Next Steps
Golden Valley is now just five officers below full strength, said Green.
Because of the higher numbers, it will no longer need to pay for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office services to help cover calls during the day. That partnership ends at the end of the month.
Green said the department will also be able to deploy proactive policing strategies, including better community engagement and traffic enforcement.
“We are in a much better space than we were just a year ago.”
