Posted: 4/2/03

Aschenbrenner will be new chief of police in Mendota Heights

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Sgt. Mike Aschenbrenner, a member of the Forest Lake Police Department for the past 20 years, will be the next chief of police in Mendota Heights.

Aschenbrenner, 44, will assume his duties in Mendota Heights on May 1. He will head a Mendota Heights police force that numbers 16 officers.

Mendota Heights is a city of 11,500 in Dakota County.

ìItís a great opportunity,î Aschenbrenner said. ìI look forward to this opportunity.î

He interviewed for the post on March 25 and was selected from a field of five finalists.

Aschenbrenner was hired as a police officer in Forest Lake on May 15, 1983 after graduating from Bemidji State University with a degree in criminal justice. He is originally from Shakopee.

He became second-in-command of the Forest Lake Police Department on July 1, 1986 when he was promoted to sergeant.

The hiring in Mendota Heights is conditional upon completion of a routine background check and a medical examination, he said.

As chief of police in the city of Mendota Heights, Aschenbrenner will earn $73,100 a year. He plans to continue to live in Forest Lake.

A replacement for Aschenbrenner is likely to come through an internal promotion process.

The city had planned to hire two new police officers in 2003, but that move is being delayed because of budget cuts triggered by major changes in state local government aid to cities.

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