Chief of Police Dan Carlson has been our Chief now for just over three years. One of the new traditions that Chief Carlson has started in our department is the Annual Meeting.
The Annual Meeting provides a chance for the various factors that make up the Police Department to come together to hear about the department’s past, present and future. Such an Annual Meeting is a challenging opportunity to arrange for a 24/7 type of operation like a Police Department. It is impossible to have every single Police Department employee in the same room at the same time. That would not be good for the community. But, we get most of them. North of 90%, I’d guess.
One of the new features to this year’s Annual Meeting was the inclusion of the Police Department’s alumni. We reached out this year to retired officers who served the Eden Prairie Police Department during their law enforcement careers. This is former Chief of Police Jack Hacking. Jack was the EPPD’s first Chief of Police. Jack told stories of the old days and shared his appreciation with the group for Chief Carlson’s initiative to actively include retired EPPD officers into the department’s events.
Another distinguished alumni in attendance at the Annual Meeting this year was Joyce Conley. That’s her on the right sitting next to one of our current telecommunicators Marci Pogatchnik. Joyce retired last year. When she was hired in Eden Prairie she was one of the first female police officers in this state.
Chief Carlson used the Annual Meeting opportunity to review the department’s and individual officer’s accomplishments over the past twelve months and to preview the year ahead. The Chief delivered a special message this year about the spirit of law enforcement and how both the department and individual officers must attend to their spiritual sides in order to remain healthy. I think that this can be a tricky message to deliver because spirit and religion are often intertwined in our country, but the Chief did an excellent job of distinguishing one from the other. He made his point, and I think it’s a good one.
The Annual Meeting is an important opportunity for the people that make up the Eden Prairie Police Department to come together to reconnect, to reenergize, and to prepare to “Protect & Serve” for the year ahead.
