Meet Chad Steffen, communications captain for Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office

Chad Steffen – communications captain for Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office – didn’t always want to go into law enforcement, but after many years in the field, he is grateful for his fruitful career.

“I actually wanted to be an attorney,” he said. “But in my senior year of high school in Farmington, I had the opportunity to do a mentorship program with the police department. I spent a week with the city attorney in the Dakota County courthouse shadowing, and I kind of like being out talking with people. I like the action side of it. This is when I knew law enforcement was the route I wanted to go.”

Steffen studied at Inver Hills Community College and Metropolitan State University before starting in southwestern Minnesota as a trial police officer for the Lower Sioux Indian Community.

He spent two years there and was the appointed chief of police for his last nine months.

“It was a great experience working with the Indian community there,” Steffen said. “In 2008, I was looking to be closer to Farmington again so  when a Red Wing position opened up, I took the opportunity. I enjoyed my time in Red Wing because I got to work with the Prairie Island Indian Community, using my previous experience to connect.”

In 2019, Steffen moved from his officer position and became the communications captain for the Goodhue County Sheriff.

“I’m a big math geek,” he said. “Everyone comes to me when their technology breaks. So my current job is right up my alley.”

In this captain role, Steffen is responsible for the emergency communications and emergency management divisions, providing general oversight and making sure everything is in working order.

A typical day for Steffen involves making sure all the equipment is online and working, following up on any faults in the system, checking the 911 department and assisting the emergency communication centers with any concerns.

“I will say I absolutely love what I do,” he said. “I get to be the liaison between the Sheriff's Office, 911 Center and every single user in the county who has a radio in their hand. I work with Public Works individuals, EMS staff, police and fire. It’s important for everyone to have working radios and perfect communication. It’s rewarding for me to know that when a public safety incident happens, I know the systems I put in place will help with that.”

To further his public safety involvement, Steffen is a member of the SAFECOM, working to improve communication at all levels. SAFECOM is run by the Cybersercutiy and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“Through collaboration with emergency responders and elected officials across all levels of government, SAFECOM works to improve emergency response providers’ inter-jurisdictional and interdisciplinary emergency communications interoperability across local, regional, tribal, state, territorial, international borders, and with federal government entities. SAFECOM works with existing federal communications programs and key emergency response stakeholders to address the need to develop better technologies and processes for the coordination of existing communications systems and future networks,” according to its website.

“I like knowing I can improve areas that need work, like response times,” Steffen said.

When Steffen isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with family, riding ATVs and going to local campgrounds to use his travel trailer.

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