Engaging with the community is an important aspect of Hastings Police activities. Although all officers engage with the community regularly, two positions align with and are more involved in community engagement activities: The Community Engagement Officer and the School Resource Officer. 

Community Engagement Officer

Whitney Rinowski serves as the Community Engagement Officer. In her role, she works to:

• Identify problems through community input, review of police reports, calls for service, housing information and other sources;
• Increase community contacts at residential, business and organizational locations;
• Work with various groups to educate on crime prevention topics, including residential/commercial security, auto theft and graffiti prevention, personal safety, and identity theft prevention;
• Develop a plan to organize block leaders in all 22 neighborhoods to increase crime prevention efforts; and
• Develop and distribute community crime alert and prevention information and announcements to the community through a variety of communications channels.

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 School Resource Officer 

The City regularly rotates officers to the School Resource Officer (SRO) role. Officer Georgeann Freeman currently serves as the School Resource Officer. The SRO works in the Hastings Schools with students and staff, speaks to groups and presents training materials.  The SRO is able to recognize factors that cause or contribute to delinquent behavior and use non-traditional means to respond.

Events and Activities

The Police Department hosts and participates in many events throughout the year, including, but not limited to:

• Coffee with a Cop
• Sound the Siren: Food 4 Kids Food Drive
• Rec + Art + Police, summer months
• Rivertown Days
• Cop on a Rooftop
• Shop with a Hero
• MN Special Olympics Torch Run
• Police Week, second week in May
• National Night Out, the first Tuesday in August
• Pink Patch Program, the month of October, to raise awareness and donations for breast cancer research

For more information about Community Engagement activities, please contact Officer Rinowski at 651-248-7930 or by email at CEO@hastingsmn.gov