Influx of out-of-state police officers helps support city’s growing need

A cross-country search ended in Sioux Falls for Illinois native Erik Kaldahl.

A fellow officer’s recommendation led Alyssa Palmer to make a move from Wisconsin.

The two are among 19 certified police officers who have joined the Sioux Falls Police Department in the past two years.

“It’s more than we’re used to, for sure, coming into our department from others states,” said Capt. Jon Lohr, who oversees the administrative division, which includes hiring.

“It’s neat to see officers from the East and West Coast come together. They have unique stories and are able to share it, and our officers take it in, and I’m sure we’ll learn from them, and they’ll learn from us.”

For Kaldahl, the move west started with what he calls “the equivalent of throwing a dart at a map.”

He checked out Sioux Falls online, did a lot of research, visited in late 2021 “and said, ‘I’m done looking,’” he said.

“I have absolutely no ties … (but) it was a pretty good-sized department compared to what I had, with a lot more advancement opportunities, and I wanted to go to a bigger city. The city I was in was just under 100,000, so I wanted to go somewhere bigger, and there’s a lot of support for police here.”

An overnight stay and ride-along with the department led him to check out downtown, “and it was beautiful … so I got to enjoy it … and the officer I rode with, let’s just say he’s a good salesman and took a lot of pride in working here, and everybody he introduced me to was exactly the same way,” Kaldahl said.

“The atmosphere around the department, the officers that were here genuinely care about this town and trying to make it better than the way they found it, and that was a big thing for me.”

His wife, Cierra, and two kids, age 1 and 2, now have settled into a neighborhood he calls “a lot more welcoming than I’m used to. All my neighbors came and greeted me, which isn’t something I’m used to. It was clean and quiet, and even though it’s bigger, it’s a slower pace, which was really nice. I was very impressed when I came out here. People are a lot different here, a lot nicer, a lot more friendly. She’s from Chicago, and she’s used to a very different world.”

In Ililnois, he served on a SWAT team and was a firearms instructor, “and I really enjoyed both those things, so we’ll see how it pans out over the next two years.”

For Palmer, the road to becoming a Sioux Falls police officer wound through Madison, Wisconsin, where the Nebraska native started her career in law enforcement in 2009.

A patrol officer and field training officer, she also was part of a community policing team and trained with the K9 unit. A “country girl at heart,” she has trained and handled cadaver dogs for years and continues to do so from her new home outside Sioux Falls.

For her, the move was driven by multiple reasons: to be closer to family in Nebraska and other states to the west and for the career advancement opportunities she saw in Sioux Falls. A friend she knew through dog training recommended the department.

“He said, ‘I think this department might be what you’re looking for.’ It was not an easy decision, but when I talked to people here, it just felt like everything would fit,” she said. “I had been in Madison for so long, and I hadn’t experienced a department where you had a super supportive mayor and City Council, and they definitely have that here, and it’s been refreshing. Those are the main reason I jumped ship.”

She started with the department late last year.

“On my swearing-in day, the mayor came and talked to each and every one of us and shook our hands, which floored me,” Palmer said. “Right now, I’m in the middle of training, so I’m out on the streets with a trainer guiding me in how they do things here. It’s similar, just new to learning processes and procedures.”

While the influx of new officers is welcomed, the department needs even more.

This year, the city is adding a new talent acquisition coordinator in human resources specifically assigned to the Police Department. Another coordinator will support Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, and a third will handle the rest of the city’s hiring needs.

The Police Department has 10 open positions, and the next class for noncertified officers starts in mid-February. There are four spots locked in there, and two of those future officers are from out of state.

The department did some marketing out of state in late 2020 and early 2021, “knowing there was a time when officers were leaving a lot of agencies, and we wanted to be an option for those who wanted to stay in the profession,” Lohr said. “We’re not currently looking nationally outside of somebody who would find us from a different area. We’re mostly using traditional (recruiting) methods at this point.”

However, officers are still seeking out the department, including some now being drawn because they know others have had a positive experience making the move, he said.

“I think those that are employed with us seem to have found many of the things they’re looking for,” Lohr said, adding there are still adjustments officers need to make as certain elements of working in the department could differ from their prior experiences.

“A lot of times, officers we’ve hired relate to us that maybe they weren’t pleased with the direction their jurisdiction was going in terms of crime and corrections, support for police and the political environments,” he said. “We’ve touted our department as a closer-knit team that’s going to look out for each other. There’s not a lot of cities this size growing as fast as we are, and, of course, that’s going to provide a lot of the opportunities people are looking for.”

Both Kaldahl and Palmer said the department and the community’s culture has been a marked change from their previous assignments.

“My old department was a lot of negativity … and as a new guy, you were treated fairly rough,” Kaldahl said. “Since I’ve been here, it’s clear that everybody treats everybody like family. It’s a completely different world than I’m used to, and I feel like in the first couple months I’ve made a good choice coming out here.”

For Palmer, too, “overall, it’s been great,” she said. “I have enjoyed everyone I’ve come in contact with. I don’t think I’ve ever been waved at so much when I’m driving in my squad car as in this town.”