Entire Goodhue police force resigns, zero applicants available for replacement
The mayor of Goodhue, Minnesota, got blindsided when the entire police force submitted their resignations. The Chief of Police will continue his job until August 24. However, the city currently appears to not have any applicants available to replace these officers. They contacted other police departments to see if they had applicant overflows. Goodhue’s low pay, and competition from larger communities, added to the challenges that this city faces with recruitment.
From Fox News:
Police Chief Josh Smith, who will continue to serve in his position until Aug. 24, told city officials that he could not find anyone to sign up to join the police force.
“This has been three weeks now, we have zero applicants, and I have zero prospects,” Smith said on July 26. “I’ve called every PD around for the youngest guys out there, getting into the game. There’s nobody getting into the game.”
“If you want to keep the PD and this is something we want to continue going with, something needs to change dramatically and drastically, and it’s got to happen now.”
One Goodhue City Council member, Chris Schmit, praised the police force for maintaining law and order in the city.
“I can probably speak for everyone when I say that they provided excellent safety and security to our community. And the small town policing that they did, we want that back.”
Smith also told the Goodhue City Council that the police force was losing on recruitment numbers because of low pay and competition from larger communities.
Fox News provides the balance of the story here.
Low pay will do that.
Our EMS service is almost 50% under staffed mainly because you can go to another city and get a $4-$7 an hour raise some with better benefits.
Of course higher up says that’s not it and all the people who left did not do so for the money (it was the work load or “they can’t handle working hard”)
Ah, Boomers run riot…
I posted an entry level job requiring a master’s degree, ten years experience and advanced certifications for minimum wage, and nobody applied– pussies don’t want to work these days, I tell ya. Worked at Burger King for minimim wage– $7.25/hour, bucko– to pay my way though college and buy a car! You kids, get offa muh lawn!!
Yes, /sarc should go on there. I know many Baby Boomers would still read it and go “Heck, yeah– lazy kids!” anyway.
Unless there was some big hiring event at a larger PD / SO, I think there is more to the story than just pay. Why? Because the entire Dept resigned simultaneously.
I can see a couple leaving together but all of them? Makes me wonder what the atmosphere was from the council and mayor.
It’s a small department. A couple of permanent officers and a couple of part timers, something like 5 or 6 total.
I looked it up after posting, but population is 1270. Makes me wonder why they even have a police department. Seems county or state could provide patrols.
Agreed. To quit enmasse like that, it’s more than just low pay. Toxic work environment? Does the city council not know what they are doing?
Maybe they are as qualified as the safety director on Maui who just resigned.
As of 2023, the population of Goodhue is about 1,270 with an average annual earning of $47,143:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/goodhue-mn-population
Numerous stories have stated the Goodhue Police Department has one Full Time Police Officer and five (5) Part Time.
Don’t know when the last time the Police Department updated their Website…we see 3 Police Officers named:
https://www.cityofgoodhue.com/departments/police-department/
The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Goodhue are entering into an unofficial agreement with the county to provide police coverage for the city for the rest of the year:
https://www.kimt.com/news/goodhue-county-sheriffs-office-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-city-of-goodhue-for-temporary-police-coverage/article_b3a82136-3d79-11ee-8ad7-fbe063d7ad1d.html
IMHO, this story has been a wee bit overblown/embellished. Does it have anything to do with the “Defund The Police” movement that has backfired?
Possibly. Does it have to do with salary of LEOs? Possibly. Then again, the average salary of LEOs has always been low…
IMHO, this is a story of a very small town with a very small budget, with one of budget costs covering salaries of their LEOs at $22.00 an hour BEFORE taxes combined with LEOs being depicted as “bad villians” (“Defund The Police”) thanks to folks such as Kamala Harris, the “Squad”, BLM, Soros, Brian Fallon, HRC’s Press Secretary, members of the Progressive Democrat Party…
Andy Taylor and Barney Fife Weeps.
Don’t worry about defunding the IRS, they’ll just shoot each other…
😆😅🤣😂😆😅🤣😂👍👍👍
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – A special agent with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is dead after being accidentally shot by another IRS agent during a training exercise Thursday at a federal gun range in Phoenix, officials confirmed.
Was the deceased IRS agent one of the whistleblowers who testified before Congress? It would have been too obvious for him to commit suicide at Fort Marcy Park, plus with the lane closures on the George Parkway for the road upgrades, the logistics of getting all of those unmarked black SUVs in and out of the park without drawing attention would be a challenge.
No, he was a retired Air National Guard Master Sergeant. Objectively not funny.
Yeah, it’s funny. Obviously people didn’t know how to handle their firearms. They wouldn’t cry for me so I won’t cry for them.
Sounds like the IRS needs a better qualified range instructor.
I’m sure some lawyer would love to extract a pound or 3 of flesh from them.
It is a Worker’s Compensation covered death. The shooter is immune from suit unless he was engaged in horseplay or intentionally shot his coworker. The employer is immune from a civil suit as well.
Alec Baldwin….paging Alec Baldwin….
I guess we could only hope?
Few people want to be a cop in Minnesota in 2023? Wonder what could have caused that?
Looks like Chief Smith ain’t joshing on what just happened.
Here ya go, Mason, a paying gig for you AND all them young’uns you got now. May not be in your Zip Code AO, but it is in the same state/time zone. And as CoP, you’d still have time to do your posts on TAH. Win/Win for all.
I agree that there’s gotta be more to this than we know…or ever will know. My little burg has a larger population than this city, yet we make do with a part time CoP and a part time officer. The County SO does the heavy lifting. The High Sheriff don’t put up with no petty criminals and neither does the local Judge. And that word is out on the streets.
I’m grateful those days are behind me now. Though I do appreciate the thought. 😀
Why anyone would want to be a cop in the current environment, especially in MN where they’re more than happy to send you to jail for doing your job if it may prevent the natives from becoming restless, is beyond me.
Learn to weld. You’ll make more money…sometimes a LOT more…and there’s little danger of being prosecuted for actually performing your assigned duties.