Deerwood Mayor speaks on Letter of Support for Police Chief Mark Taylor

By Paul Vold kkinradio@embarqmail.com (6/10/21)

(Deerwood. MN) — The Deerwood City Council during a Closed Session Monday night officially released a statement of their support of Police Chief Mark Taylor in light of a recent letter from Crow Wing County Sheriff Scott Goddard restricting Deerwood Police personnel from Sheriff’s office controlled buildings.

Doug Gillette of R&J Broadcasting, Inc spoke to Deerwood Mayor Michael Aulie on the origin of Sheriff Goddard’s letter stemming from “Chief Taylor’s recording of conversations with retired Crosby Police Chief Kim Coughlin and retired Lieutenant Kevin Randolph, both of whom were not retired at the time.”

The decision to restrict Deerwood Police personnel was made based on an article published in C-I Courier on May 5th, but no communication between the Sheriff and Chief Taylor or Mayor Aulie was made, according to the Deerwood letter. Mayor Aulie addressed the lack of communication.

In the letter penned by the Deerwood Council, they ask Sheriff Goddard to “remove his ban on the Deerwood Police Department and allow our officers to interact with country law enforcement as they have done in the past for the good and safety of all our citizens.”

A copy of the letter from the City of Deerwood can be found here: