Chief Monroe judged children’s artwork at one of last summer’s Safe City Nights neighborhood events.

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

After 31 years with the Moorhead Police Department, Chief Shannon Monroe is handing in his badge at the end of March.
Along with Deputy Chief Tory Jacobson, whose last day is Feb. 28, Monroe’s retirement signals a change – both for the two top officers, who have led the MPD since 2018, and for the department itself. But the chief sees better days ahead, especially in the recruitment problem that has plagued law enforcement in recent years, and in young adults’ perception of the role officers play in their community.
“These have been a few tough years for bringing recruits into the department – not just here or in Minnesota, but all over the country,” the nearly 55-year-old chief reflects. “When I was applied to the department in 1992, they received 250 applications for this job. Right now, we have nine openings, and the advertisement says ‘open until filled.’ There are hardly any applicants right now. Departments are competing to steal each others’ officers.” He adds, “One of our people is leaving for New Hope, Minnesota, with a $28,000 increase in his salary.”
But the tide is turning. After a total of 34 years in law enforcement, here and in Mahnomen County where he grew up, Monroe sees signs of a welcome new attitude among the newest generation. “I’m hearing encouraging things from our young applicants,” he says. “They tell us they’re feeling called to the law enforcement profession. As our community is getting diverse, so are our future officers.”
That law enforcement calling came to Monroe himself well after completing high school in Waubun, Minnesota. He was on the verge of receiving his degree in business from Interstate Business College at the tail end of the 1980s when he changed directions. He set out for Alexandria Technical College just after graduation to enter its police training and education program. Now with two associates degrees in hand, he went to work in Mahnomen’s brand new Shooting Star Casino for several months before landing a job with the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Department, which also handled enforcement for the White Earth Nation.
He was just 22. “I started as a jailer and dispatcher, along with filling in on shifts with the Mahnomen Police Department from time to time,” he remembers. The county only had three jail cells, so he spent much of his time driving to other jails in Becker, Polk and Otter Tail counties to pick up prisoners, take them to court and then bring them back, sometimes driving 500 miles in one 16-hour shift.
The department was short not only of jail cells but also equipment. “I had no body armor up there,” he confides. “To get a vest, you paid a third, the department paid a third, and the state paid the rest … so I didn’t get one.”
When he spotted a job opening in Moorhead, he applied. Two reasons: It’s close to the lakes area he loves, and the job offered far more opportunities to learn and grow. “In Mahnomen, I had to learn a lot on my own. Here, I could take advantage of a formal program to refine my skills and discover more purpose – why we do what we do, as well as how.”
Monroe was the youngest officer on the force when he was hired by MPD in March 1994. His first 16 weeks were spent with field training officers Mike Trygg, Matt Wychor, Scott Rogers and Steve Kennedy. He went on to spend his first year in the same role, teaching defensive tactics like holds, take-downs, hand-cuffing and the rest of suspect control.
He was also the department’s police cyclist instructor, a skill he mastered patrolling Moorhead on two wheels. “I spent a lot of time on that bike,” he reminisces. “With the staffing shortages we’ve been having, we don’t get out on them much anymore.”
He worked as a patrol officer, too, and was promoted to patrol sergeant in April 1998. Then, after 18 months as a detective in investigations, he was assigned to the Cass-Clay SWAT unit as assistant commander. During his five years with SWAT, he worked with fellow assistant commanders Paul Laney and Dave Todd. (All three would eventually go on to command their departments.) When Monroe was tapped in 2018 to succeed retiring Chief David Ebinger, Capt. Tory Jacobson also moved up to become his deputy chief. The two had grown up 15 miles apart, Jacobson in Twin Valley, Minnesota.
Monroe and his wife Angie met during summer jobs at Cedar Crest Resort on White Earth Lake, where the West Fargo girl’s parents had a cabin. They married in 1991. Angie has spent the past 30 years as a 911 dispatcher. They have two children. Justin, 25, is a digital marketing strategist with AdShark Marketing. Megan, 28, works in bookkeeping and human resources at Sky Logistics.
The Monroes are moving into new quarters next week in Otter Tail County, where Shannon plans to spend the summer fishing and “doing outdoor stuff” while Angie continues working at the Red River Dispatch Center.
Much has changed in policing, he reflects, since he got his start more than 30 years ago. “There’s a lot more collaboration and communication in this community since I started,” he observes, citing SWAT and the Metro Street Crime Unit among others. “It’s significantly improved.” Technology, too, has made a big difference, from cell phones that replaced bulky radios and computers in patrol cars to body cams – some that also transcribe speech, reducing the need for typing low-level reports. “Time is so tight,” he points out. “Anything that makes officers more efficient is going to help.”
He predicts that the new contract signed by the city will also help. “In past years, Moorhead salaries were just not competitive, and our staffing was really short. The city grew 18% from the 2010 census to 2020, but the department only added two officers. For this year, the mayor and city council really came through for us in both compensation and the addition of two more officers.”
Five of the current nine openings, too, will be filled in March when five new officers complete the will be filled will soon fill the existing openings, too, as they complete the ICPOET – Intensive Comprehensive Peace Officer Training – a program funded last year by the Minnesota Legislature to help fill the statewide gap in hiring.
The nationwide hunt for Monroe’s replacement, which started last fall, is expected to conclude with discussion at the City Council meeting on Feb. come before the City Council on Feb. 24 or March 10. In the meantime, Monroe will be moving into his family’s new lake home and making plans to relax, at least for the summer.
“I think it’s only fair to the new police chief to make way for him to pick his own deputy and chart his own direction,” he muses as he prepares to depart.
“Anyway, this is the time for me to go. You should see a picture of me back when I took this job in 2018,” the retiring chief adds, and laughs. “In a job like this, you age in dog years.”