York, NE
Edward Tjaden began his position as Chief of Police at the York Police Department in October of 2017. Prior to that, he spent the previous 18 years with the Gering Nebraska and Alliance Nebraska Police Departments, where he served as an officer, sergeant, instructor, narcotics investigator in a multi-jurisdictional High Intensity Drug Traffic Area task force, and Lieutenant/Operations Commander. He is a 2016 graduate of Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command and obtained his bachelor's in criminal justice administration in 2017. His experiences exemplify the "jack of all trades" description often found in rural law enforcement, including patrol, investigations, instruction, drafting and implementing policy, conducting forensic child interviews, planning large, high-risk events, supervising hiring processes, supervising training, and writing and administering grants. He has focused his studies on expanding the understanding that rural law enforcement officers, leaders, and agencies face both unique and typical policing challenges, and believes in addressing those challenges with a combination of academic and practical efforts.