Officer Jonathan Hanson & The Moorhead Police Dept., We Salute YOU!

Our February Luther Family Ford Salute to Law Enforcement honoree is Officer Jonathan Hanson & The Moorhead Police Dept. Officer Jonathan Hanson joins Steve Hallstrom to share with us about what it means to be honored for his service.

Read Officer Jonathan Hanson's biography below... The Moorhead Police Department nominates Officer Jonathan Hanson as Luther Family Ford's February Salute to Law Enforcement recipient.

Officer Jonathan Hanson’s dedication, knowledge, and personality have made him an experienced and influential member of our department and community. Jonathan grew up in Sunburg, MN (population 116) and graduated from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School in 2005. Jonathan then attended Alexandria Technical College and graduated in 2007 with a degree in Law Enforcement. Due to the highly competitive job market for officers, Jonathan decided to join the United States Navy as a Master-at-Arms. Jonathan was stationed at various duty stations, including Washington D.C. and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

After the Navy, Jonathan worked several jobs, including being a Correctional Officer at a prison, a Correctional Officer at the Clay County Jail, and working in private security. He obtained a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from M.S.U.M. while working various jobs. Jonathan joined the Moorhead Police Department shortly after and has served our community for nearly ten years. Officer Hanson has been instructing several types of department training for most of his career. Officer Hanson was selected as a Field Training Officer (FTO) in 2016. He is involved in conducting new hire background investigations, preparing new officers for uniformed patrol at our in-house academy, and day-to-day further officer training throughout the process.

He was also instrumental in researching and developing a new system of documenting FTO training records. Even when Jonathan is not working in his capacity as a Field Training Officer, he is often found coaching, teaching, and mentoring junior officers in every aspect of the job. Officer Hanson was selected as a Use of Force Instructor in 2018. In this role, he is responsible for training officers in techniques to control resistant individuals effectively to protect themselves and others. He is the lead TASER instructor for the department and is responsible for the annual training and inventory of TASER equipment. Officer Hanson was selected as an Emergency Vehicle Operation and Control (E.V.O.C.) instructor in 2016. In this position, he is responsible for training officers on safe and defensive driving techniques that officers use every shift.

Officer Hanson was selected to join the Red River Valley Regional S.W.A.T. Crisis Negotiations Team in 2021. In 2023, he was chosen for the role of Assistant Team Leader. During his time on the team, he has been involved in several successful negotiations in primary and support roles. In 2023, he was the primary negotiator while called to a male suspect on the roof of a building after committing Arson. The male refused to come down and threatened to jump from the roof. After hours of diligent interaction with the male, he willingly came off the roof and was detained without further incident. Jonathan now lives in rural Moorhead with his wife, Tara. They spend most of their free time caring for their four dogs, six chickens, two ducks, and one cat. If it were up to Tara, they would have more animals. We thank Jonathan for his service and look forward to what he will continue to bring to our community in the future.