BLAINE, Minn. – (Dec. 7, 2017) – Brian Podany grew up around law enforcement. His grandfather was a cop. His father was a sheriff. It is in his blood. Podany spent the last 20 years working for the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, now he is settling into his new role as the Blaine Police Chief.
“I wasn’t looking to get out of the sheriff’s office, I really enjoyed it there, [there’s] good people there, great organization but I’m a resident of Blaine and over the years through working with members of Blaine Police Department and getting to know people there, it seemed like a great organization, when the opening came up, my interest was immediately piqued, like I said I wasn’t looking to leave the county but I saw this as an incredible opportunity,” he said.
Podany was raised in Andover and went to high school in Coon Rapids. He has called this area home for his entire life, including moving to Blaine nine years ago.
“Being a resident here, I’ve gotten to know it from what it’s like from a personal standpoint living here and having invested interest in the community and wanting to ensure that we have a safe place for businesses to thrive, for communities that are families to raise their children in,” Podany said.
Podany is a life long learner and has gone well beyond the associates degree that is required for Minnesota law enforcement officers.
“I also have a bachelor’s degree in police science and then I have a master’s degree in public safety administration as well,” he said. “I’ve also attended the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command which is an in depth command school takes about three months of straight training so I’ve had a lot of different things that have just prepared me to be in management, in law enforcement and public safety.”
Podany want to institute a paradigm shift where the Blaine police department is a part of the community instead of being a service for the community.
“As long as I can remember it seems like policing has always been, when we talk about community relations, it’s police and the community,” he said. “My personal belief is we have to look at ourselves as a part of the community and not a separate entity and when we look at ourselves as a component to the community I think we adapt a different mindset as the foundation of how we’re going to work with other members of our community.”
Podany also has strong thoughts about protecting the rights of all citizens.
“I am also a big believer in constitutional policing as well, I think it’s hard to establish trust with other people in the community and all the members of the community if they don’t believe we’re safe guarding their rights and if they don’t believe that we’re doing things to the best of our ability utilizing not only the state and federal constitutions but also our local, our policies and practices that we’re imploring, not only doing everything we can to keep our community safe, but also to safeguard everybody’s rights as well, and once community members feel that we are cognizant and conscious of those things, they’re more likely to trust in that the endeavors and the things that we’re doing are in the best interest of the community,” Podany said.
He has lots of ideas for new initiatives in Blaine, but he cautions residents to give him time to learn the nuts and bolts of the department before he starts making any changes. Many of his ideas center around community outreach and engagement.
“One of the things that I would like to do, I do want to establish a community advisory board made up of not only residents but different members of the business community, our faith communities, minority communities, a lot of different members of the community where we meet maybe every other month and we talk about things from a public safety standpoint,” he said.
Podany called this job a wonderful opportunity that he can see himself in for a long time. He knows that it will be a challenge but he is all in.
“I know there’s going to be growing pains, its going to be some long hours but I expect that and I’ve told the staff members here and I tell the community that I will give my best here.”
