On Feb. 1, St. Cloud Police Chief Doug Goerke will mark his one-year anniversary heading up the department. He, along with city Fire Chief Jason Miller, who goes on his third year of command this year, shared what’s upcoming for the city’s first responder units at St. Cloud Main Street’s “Breakfast With the Pros” series Tuesday morning at VFW Post 3227. (Check next week’s News-Gazette for Miller's comments on the Fire Department.)
Goerke succeeded — definitely didn’t replace — retired former chief Pete Gauntlett. The two both came from the Orlando Police Department.
“Pete is a friend and mentor to me. He left me an incredible structure,” Goerke said. “My job is to bring it forward even more and keep raising the bar. I don’t have to tell you St. Cloud is growing exponentially. What that comes with is unique challenges for law enforcement. More congestion means potential car accidents, and criminal activity, so how we strategically plan and train our officers is going to be different.”
He said calls for service increased by about 5% to over 100,000, and Goerke said he expects the trend to continue. There’s been a decrease in property crimes like burglaries, but violent crimes are trending up.
“But we are solving them and identifying the offenders. Warrants are being obtained and cases turned over to the State Attorney’s Office,” he said.
Goerke’s first year in St. Cloud has been all about community engagement. If you haven’t been to the city’s many events, you’d still see his presence through city social media talking with residents — and having a little fun. He even rides patrol routes, doing all the things he asks his officers to do as well and participating in them, including that engagement.
“At Hopkins Park, I was told they never see my cops. I told them that would change,” he said, recanting a story about a “cops versus kids” water balloon fight (that you can find on St. Cloud Police Department Facebook).
In that vein, trust and transparency are his priorities, he said. While St. Cloud was one of the first policing agencies to use body cameras, he pushed, with the city’s backing, to replace the cameras — he wears one too — along with tasers and firearms. Officers will be able to use virtual reality and immersive training systems going forward to prep for real-world situations.
“It keeps me up at night that, sometimes, cops don’t come home at night. That keeps me up at night so I want them to have all the best training possible to ensure they know I stand behind them,” Goerke said. “I will teach them how to use everything on their belts, but I challenge them to use their minds and their mouths to de-escalate situations they have.”
Another challenge he has is recruitment and retention, difficult for all policing agencies, and knowing how much staffing is needed in a city growing like St. Cloud. Policies are also evolving, Goerke said.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “It’s important to have an open dialogue with the community.”
