Chief Wilske has served the City of Hastings with distinction, provided steady leadership for the department, boosted morale and engagement and helped bolster the Police Reserve Unit.”

City Administrator Dan Wietecha

Hastings Police Chief Dave Wilske announced his retirement for March 2026.
Wilske took over the role in May 2022 from former chief Bryan Schafer, becoming the 56th Hastings Police Chief since the title was created in 1858.
Wilske came to the Hastings Police Department in 2017 as Deputy Chief. Before that, Wilske served for 20 years at the University of Minnesota Police Department in various roles from patrol officer to lieutenant.
Wilske’s tenure is characterized in the post-Covid era as seeing a decline in crime alongside high levels of community engagement from working with local organizations to participating in events across the community including increased cooperation with ISD 200 through the creation of a second school resource officer role, fundraisers for Sound the Siren, and the Pink Patch program.
“Chief Wilske has served the City of Hastings with distinction, provided steady leadership for the department, boosted morale and engagement and helped bolster the Police Reserve Unit,” City Administrator Dan Wietecha said. “I have been particularly impressed and pleased by the partnerships and collaboration he has strengthened with key community organizations.”
From Coffee with a Cop to Rec + Art + Police to Cop on a Rooftop, it would be hard to attend events around the community and not see booths featuring local officers.
Once such partnership between the Hastings Police Department is with the Minnesota Special Olympics for the Law Enforcement Torch Run, where the Olympic torch is carried from Rochester to Hastings or vice versa.
This year marks the final year Wilske will have made the 98-mile ride from Rochester to Hastings. In June, the riders met up with Hastings police officers to finish the final stretch of the ride alongside members of the Hastings Sharks, a Special Olympic team based out of Hastings.
While the cause is a good one, Wilske didn’t seem too sad to see the final ride completed.
Under Wilske’s tenure and coming out of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hastings saw a reduction in overall calls for service, dropping by nearly 3,000 calls from 23,038 calls in 2022 to 20,163 calls in 2024.
This overall decline in calls trickled down into reductions in a number of crime areas including simple assault, shoplifting, and drug/narcotic violations.
One area of crime that has seen increased focus is scams and frauds, especially those involving cryptocurrencies.
The volume and sophistication of online scams from phishing to impersonating officials or loved ones to pig slaughtering has increased in recent years.
The Hastings Police Department has worked to raise awareness about this increased threat of scams including fake calls from Dakota County Sheriff’s Office by posting flyers at the cryptocurrency exchanges around town.
“A good rule of thumb for recognizing these crimes – a person you’ve never met in person requesting money be sent to them is almost always a scam, especially if the requester creates a sense of urgency,” according to the Hastings Police Department flyer on scam trends.
Also under Wilske’s tenure as chief, the Hastings Police Department saw upgrades to the department facilities including a new workout room and on-site kitchen.
Due to the extended increase in data requests to the department, a new part-time role was created in order to better respond to data requests and support data request management.
On his retirement, Wilske said:
“I’ve said this many times before—I wish I had started my law enforcement career with the Hastings Police Department. The community support, the professionalism of our officers and the partnerships we’ve built have made this an incredibly rewarding experience. I have truly enjoyed coming to work each day and am deeply grateful to police department officers and staff, City Council, city administration and the community for their unwavering support over the years.”
According to Wietecha, the search for a new Hastings Police Chief will begin in the new year with the goal of hiring a candidate before Wilske’s March retirement date.