Howard Lake Police Department

03/28/2026

Howard Lake Police and Fire Departments participated in the pinewood derby with our local scouts today in Hutchinson. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot about pinewood derby cars. We will not be getting in any pursuits with our pinewood squad car. It looked good but we need to work on speed.

03/13/2026

Reminder that we need vehicles off the street when there is snowfall. Please don't park vehicles on the street once the snow starts falling.

Send a message to learn more

03/04/2026

HLPD is currently working in conjunction with HLWW Administration to investigate a report of a possible threat made to the HLWW High School and Middle School campus. At this point we have been unable to find any substantial evidence to support the allegation. The student against whom the original allegation was made, and their family are cooperating fully with the investigation and that student will not be attending school while the investigation is ongoing. Another student is also cooperating and will not be attending school during the investigation either. HLPD has had an increased presence at the school that will continue until the investigation is complete. At this time we do not see a credible threat to the school related to this allegation. The safety of the students and staff remains our highest priority.

Send a message to learn more

02/24/2026

HLPD would like to welcome Officer Curtis Hakala to the team as a part time officer. Curtis is a WCSO deputy and is currently the school resource officer at Dassel-Cokato. His wife, Stephanie, attended his swearing in at the last city council meeting and pinned his badge on him.

02/18/2026

HLFD Presented HLPD Officer Johnson and WCSO Deputies Hansen and Strandmo with Lifesaving awards at the city council meeting last night.

On the Afternoon of Jan. 2nd, 2026, Andrew Hatcher was having a normal day. After shoveling some snow, he came in and was playing with his niece on the floor. Then, Andrew suddenly fell backwards in what was initially thought to be in a playful manner. Very quickly, his mother realized that what was happening was far from normal.
Andrew’s heart had stopped and he was no longer breathing effectively. He had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Fortunately for him, his mother recognized what was happening and started CPR immediately. Without this CPR, Andrew’s odds of survival would have been less than 16%.
Officer Johnson and Deputies Hanson, Strandmo and Dearing arrived within minutes of the 911 call. They were able to continue CPR, assist Andrew’s breathing and use the AED to restart Andrew’s heart.
They were able to help stabilize Andrew until Howard Lake Ambulance arrived. From there, Howard Lake Ambulance met with Ridgeview Ambulance and Andrew was flown from the High School to the U of M by Lifelink III.

Andrew was able to attend and present the certificates. Deputy Dearing was unable to attend.

02/09/2026

A gray male Shih Tzu pup named Rocky is missing. He was last seen near Lake Ann in Victor TWP. He was wearing a multi-colored harness. If anyone has seen Rocky please contact HLPD at 320-543-3670 ext 5.

Send a message to learn more

12/23/2025

HLPD would like to thank the local farmer who donated 100lbs of ground beef to local families just before Christmas. What a great way to make Christmas a little bit merrier for those families.

12/18/2025

We conducted scenario based use of force training tonight at city hall. Officers were faced with dynamic situations. Scenario training allows for training on multiple tasks simultaneously. We train hard to support the community the best we can.

12/04/2025

A perfect evening for our low-light adverse weather fi****ms training.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving Howard Lake. We had a great time this morning working the Turkey Tagalong 5K. Thanks to everyone who came out for a chilly run/walk to support HLWW Softball.

11/25/2025

Reminder that the winter parking ordinance is in effect. Please do not park your vehicles on the street once the snow starts falling. We will be citing and/or towing vehicles and trailers left on the street during a snowfall.

Send a message to learn more

11/06/2025

Good luck at state to our Laker Volleyball team!