“If you could somehow extend a portion of yourself into that situation, and make that situation better for people who are going through a terrible time, it speaks to you and makes you feel like you’re making a difference,” Mork said.
Mork spent 23 years on the police force in nearby Fridley so he knows the area well. He says the experience in a busier department more than twice the size of Centennial Lakes was different. Busy with emergency calls and serious crime, he says sometimes there was limited opportunity for outreach. Centennial Lakes is a welcome change of pace.
“Obviously when you don’t have major highways and you’re not sharing borders with the City of Minneapolis, that can be an advantage for having lower police calls,” he said.
Mork says community outreach has become a much bigger priority since when he first became a cop. It’s something he says should be practiced every day.
“In its simplest terms, there just has to be a commitment on the part of the department that every single call they go to, they’re going to leave that situation better than how they found it,” Mork said.
Mork is already in the process of hiring two new officers to bring the force up to its allotted size of 17. He says he’s joining a well run department, and changes are expected to be minor.
“Is there information and experiences from there that I could bring here that could help things run better, or is it just simple little efficiencies or maybe something as simple as a organizational structure that there could be little tweaks,” Mork said.
The biggest challenge he says, it meeting the changing expectations the public has of police in general, and gaining the trust of a more diverse population.
“Hey, we’re in this together, if we want to succeed, the officers are part of the community, too, said Mork.
The Centennial Lakes Police Department serves the cities of Circle Pines, Lexington and Centerville.
