(Jason Freedman. Photo submitted by the City of Grand Forks)
(KNOX) – Grand Forks City Council approved Jason Freedman’s employment agreement as the city’s new police chief. Freedman is scheduled to start as the next police chief January 27th.
The City of Grand Forks Police Department is responsible for protecting life and property by enforcing laws and regulations to keep the public safe.
The city has had a police chief position vacancy since the former police chief retired in September of 2024.
The police chief position was advertised locally, regionally, and nationally using various websites and publications to attract the highest talent available. The City received a total of fifteen applicants and a screening matrix was used to narrow down to ten qualified candidates based on experience, education, and qualifications. A preliminary interview was conducted via Microsoft Teams on October 29th and 30th, 2024 to narrow down the candidate pool to six candidates.
One candidate withdrew before the in-person interviews. The final five candidates included three internal candidates and two external candidates.
On November 18th, the five candidates participated in a panel interview and attended the City Council meeting that evening where they were able to introduce themselves to department heads and the city council.
On November 19th, the candidates participated presentation with the following topic, “Looking ahead to the future of law enforcement, as the chief of police, what would be your vision for the City of Grand Forks, to include strategies on evolving challenges such as crime, immigration or homelessness?”
The City ran a competitive process with the following selection panel, Mayor Brandon Bochenski, City Administrator Todd Feland, Fire Chief Gary Lorenz, Altru Health Systems CEO Todd Forkel, Chamber of Commerce President Tony Hodny, and Human Resources Director Tangee Bouvette. Assistant HR Director Gretchen Guetter facilitated the process.
The panel had great discussion and was fortunate to have well qualified candidates for the position.
The top candidate, Jason Freedman, is currently a Captain with the City of Madison, WI.
The position was offered to Jason Freedman as a contracted position, and he has verbally accepted the contracted position.
Freedman will have a starting salary of $161,428.80 annually.
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