Don Hedrick

Don serves as the Assistant Chief of the Rapid City Police Department. Don led and managed the Police Department’s agency wellness and officer resiliency efforts, which form the bedrock of its trauma-informed policing strategy. He has been instrumental in planning and implementing the department’s Peer Support and Crisis Intervention Teams.

The Rapid City Police Department works to address crime and violence and break down trust barriers. The Police Department engages with the Native American community through their Collective Healing Initiative; knowledge gained through this initiative supports ongoing efforts to reduce high rates of violence, victimization, and incarceration among Native Americans in Rapid City. The department’s policing strategy is focused on equipping officers with the tools to assess and triage trauma and violence on the streets, in order to coordinate with higher levels of care and services to intervene in and end cycles of victimization, crisis, and violence.