[0:02] [music] [0:07] [music] [0:12] My growth has really been um nurtured [0:14] through this organization. [0:16] >> From a young explorer at the age [music] [0:17] of 14, the department invested in me. [0:20] They continued to do that at every turn [0:22] [music] that I made here. [0:24] >> Our department is very unique in that [0:26] officers get to pursue areas that [0:28] interest them. [music] The city itself [0:29] has sent me to different trainings when [0:31] I was interested in different aspects of [0:33] policing. [0:34] >> What we like to do is is identify [0:36] passion [music] areas uh that officers [0:38] have and really look at connecting those [0:39] passion areas with programs that [music] [0:41] we have. [0:47] [music] My dad owned a body shop and he [0:49] worked on police cars often. So that was [0:51] something I was around and he had [0:53] friends that were police officers and so [0:55] that kind of grew my interest and I got [0:57] involved in the explorer program [music] [0:59] when I was 14 years old. Within the [1:00] first couple times I go into meetings [1:02] there, I was hooked. We started a fire [1:04] [music] explorer program which I jumped [1:06] in on the ground floor with that and was [1:07] able to participate in both programs. I [1:09] transitioned into the cso [music] [1:11] role. Um got some great experience [1:13] there, became a reserve officer and then [1:16] ultimately was able to join as a police [1:18] officer. I continued being a firefighter [1:19] in that role as well as a field [music] [1:22] trainer before being promoted to [1:23] sergeant and then did several years [1:25] working sergeant with the officers on [1:27] the [music] street before being promoted [1:29] to the role that I'm in now as a [1:30] commander. [1:36] I never would have dreamed growing up [1:37] that I would have become a police [1:39] officer. [music] During college, I had [1:40] taken an EMT class and it was exciting. [1:43] It was fun. And so after schooling, got [1:46] my degree and and decided to go back to [1:48] school for uh paramedic and met some [1:51] people from Woodbury Police Department [1:53] and that got me [music] interested in [1:54] law enforcement. Came here to be a CSO [1:56] and the rest is history. I stayed [1:58] working as a police officer paramedic [1:59] but then was sent to the schools as [2:01] [music] an SRO for a couple years. I [2:03] really enjoyed working with the schools, [2:05] getting to be there to really build [2:07] those relationships. I worked as a [2:09] canine officer. I also served as a a [2:11] [music] SWAT officer for 5 years. have [2:14] gotten to do a lot of great things, a [2:16] lot of fun things in my career. [2:23] You know, I was in college, not really [2:25] sure what I wanted [music] to do. So, I [2:27] ended up kind of veering towards [2:29] criminology and found that very [2:31] interesting. So, I started in 1997 [2:33] [music] as a cso. When I finished [2:35] school, I was fortunate enough to get [2:37] hired here as a police officer in 1999. [2:39] Uh, from there, [music] I went to [2:41] paramedic school. So I was a police [2:42] officer paramedic for a number of years. [2:44] I've been a firefighter was was a field [2:47] [music] training officer. I did bike [2:48] patrol and then in 2008 I was promoted [2:50] to sergeant. I worked [music] as a [2:52] patrol sergeant until 2013 when I was [2:55] promoted to patrol commander [music] and [2:57] then uh most recently the investigations [2:59] commander. Just had a lot of great [3:00] experiences through all of it. [3:08] Well, when I was in high school, I uh [3:09] joined the police [music] explorer [3:11] program, which gave me an opportunity to [3:13] learn what law enforcement was all [3:14] about. After I was a police explorer, I [3:17] became a community service officer. At [3:18] age 19, I became a a sworn police [3:21] officer, [music] youngest in the state [3:22] at that time. I was I was hooked ever [3:24] since. I spent 20 years on patrol. I did [3:28] uh things [music] like field training, [3:29] helped with the instruction for [3:31] firearms. Probably the most significant [3:33] opportunity that I got was working with [3:35] the SWAT team. I spent 16 years on the [3:38] team, learning all kinds of different [3:40] positions [music] within the team and I [3:42] eventually became the team commander and [3:44] then was promoted to sergeant around [3:47] [music] 2009 and then just recently [3:50] moved on to uh deputy chief. Looking [3:52] back over the 24 years that I've spent [3:55] [music] here, I mean, it's been a [3:56] privilege to be able to serve in the [3:58] community that I grew up in. [4:04] So, [music] I first got interested in [4:06] law enforcement uh in high school. It [4:08] was a explorer [music] program uh run by [4:10] the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. [4:12] It was an opportunity at a young age to [4:14] really [music] kind of explore um the [4:16] world of law enforcement. So, I started [4:18] with the department as a community [4:20] service officer at 19 years old before [4:22] moving on to become a police officer, [4:23] which [music] was my ultimate goal. I've [4:25] had a lot of opportunity to try a number [4:27] of different things. I was a longtime K9 [4:29] handler and trainer. [music] I was on [4:31] the Washington County SWAT team over [4:33] nearly 18 years. Got an opportunity to [4:35] be a field training officer. Got a [4:37] chance to do bike patrol. [music] [4:39] Got a lot of opportunity to wear a lot [4:40] of different hats in the organization. [4:45] [music] [4:48] >> Woodbury is unique. It's growing. We're [4:50] forward thinking and there's [music] [4:52] opportunities in all divisions within [4:54] the police department. I think the [4:56] [music] best thing about being a police [4:57] officer is having the opportunity to [5:00] solve different problems to to help one [5:02] another out within our [music] [5:04] community. [5:05] >> People that are around our community has [5:06] a lot of support for our officers. It's [5:08] a big reason why people come here and [5:10] then why they stay [music] here for the [5:12] length of their entire career. The five [5:14] of us in command staff, we're all [5:16] [music] CSOS here and we're still here [5:18] today. That doesn't happen by accident. [5:21] >> So, if I were to start over [music] in [5:22] my career, uh I would start over here [5:24] right now. Um, this is a a great place [5:26] to work. We've got great people who work [5:29] here. There's a lot [music] of support [5:30] for what happens here in public safety, [5:32] as well as the community support, which [5:34] is critical for us to be able to to [5:36] serve the community at a high level.