The Golden Valley Police Department (GVPD) swore in four new officers Dec 2 during a ceremony at Brookview Golden Valley. The event marked a new milestone after a two-year period where a loss of senior officers resulted in the City contracting with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for day shift patrol services while GVPD officers worked the overnight shifts.
The GVPD’s fourth and final 2024 swearing-in ceremony officially welcomed Patrol Officers Nathaniel Law and Cory Salazar and Patrol Sergeants Robert Anderson and Joseph Magana. According to Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green, the GVPD is now only five patrol positions short of its budgeted 31 sworn officers.
“I hadn’t been with the agency that long when the roller-coaster ride started,” Green said. “We had to plan how we were going to bounce back so our community knew we were not going to let them down.”
Over the past year, Green and Assistant Police Chiefs Alice White and Rudy Perez designed and led a rebuilding effort that not only recruited experienced offices, but recruited and hired from within the GVPD’s CSO (community service officer) ranks as well. A key component was giving officers who had more than five years of patrol experience the opportunity to apply for sergeant positions, said Green, with White leading the effort to develop the new promotional process.
“It’s times like this as a police leader you must think outside the box, especially when faced with a critical situation,” said Green. “The puzzle started coming together, and we have been on a path since the start of 2024 to be back where we will have GVPD officers working both shifts.”
“Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, and her command staff and deputies, have been amazing law enforcement partners and have been very supportive during this rebuilding process,” Green added.
“We never compromised our service to the community we serve and protect,” said Green. “Our recent swearing-in ceremony got us a lot closer to reaching our goal, and we are now planning to start our next patrol academy class in February of 2025.”
Pictured left to right: Assistant Police Chief Alice White, Sergeant Joseph Magana, Sergeant Robert Anderson, Police Chief Virgil Green, Officer Nathaniel Law, Officer Corey Salazar, and Assistant Police Chief Rudy Perez