Entire police force resigns in small Minnesota town, chief cites low compensation

The small town of Goodhue, population of around 1,200, saw its entire police force resign last week, according to a report from the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith resigned on Aug. 9 and his last day will be on Aug. 23. After his resignation, another full-time officer and five working part-time all resigned on Aug. 11.

Chief Smith is leaving for greater compensation in a different town. In his resignation speech to the city council, he said, "Right now... trying to hire at $22 an hour, you're never going to see another person again walk through those doors."

Other police departments have been offering to pay $30 an hour or more.

Sign-on bonuses and other incentives for recruitment were absent from the city's police department in comparison to other towns. Despite a five percent raise earlier this year for officers and a $13,000 raise for Smith, their pay was still lower than comparable towns.

"The harsh reality is, I don't want to be the guy working 80 hours a week just running this PD, being on call 24 hours a day, which I already am, and leaving no time for my family," Smith told the council.

Since the resignation of the department, the city has been scrambling to plan for additional law enforcement. The council spoke to the Goodhue County Sherrif's Office to get additional help where resources are needed.

The council seemed to agree that there is a need to have a department for the small town and did not want to continually rely on the county for assistance.

One city resident, Roxanne Fisher, said she was surprised the entire force had resigned. "Our officers were very visible," she added. "We just knew if we needed them, they would be there."

City officials said it would be "an uphill climb" to build a new police department.

Other instances of entire police departments resigning have happened in recent years.

One in Missouri did so for similar financial reasons in 2021 and another instance happened in North Carlolina where the force quit citing a "hostile work environment" after a new town manager came on board.