St. Helens Hires New Police Chief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2018

St. Helens, Ore. – The City of St. Helens has selected Brian Greenway, a retired captain with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as St. Helens’ new police chief. Greenway replaces current Police Chief Terry Moss who announced his plan to retire from the St. Helens Police Department in May 2018.

Greenway was one of four finalists selected after a series of panel interviews comprised of members of the community, partner agencies, City staff, and City Councilors. Greenway starts on Monday, August 13 and will be officially sworn in as police chief at an August 15 City Council meeting.

“As we move forward at the St. Helens Police Department, I want the community to be involved in every step of the way,” Greenway said. “People talk a lot about community policing. To me, that means that police work hand-in-hand with the entire community and other agencies to identify problems and work collaboratively to create options and solutions to address those issues.”

Greenway comes to St. Helens after a 25-year career with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). While there, he oversaw the administrative and operational processes for multiple divisions, units, and specialized task forces. He also served as the incident commander during the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay hotel mass shooting in October 2017.

Greenway rose through the LVMPD ranks during his career. He first started as an officer, then became a sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. He has served in leadership roles for multiple LVMPD divisions and bureaus, including Gang/Vice, Crime Against Youth & Family, Narcotics, Internal Affairs, Traffic, Robbery, Financial Crimes, and Training.

Greenway had an instrumental role in creating a nationally-recognized police alliance for safer schools in the Las Vegas area. The program changed the way that law enforcement handled reports of potential school threats. After a few years of implementation that included vetting calls, logging threats, and tracking patterns for more proactive police response, the LVMPD saw a significant decline in the number of calls for service in the schools and a decrease in school violence.

Before beginning his career in law enforcement, Greenway served in the U.S. Army. He holds degrees in Administrative Leadership and Criminal Justice, in addition to graduating from the FBI National Academy for Leadership.

Greenway’s wife used to live in the Portland area, and the couple has vacationed in Oregon many times over the years that they lived in Las Vegas. Greenway fell in love with the people and landscape of Oregon during his visits, and he and his wife planned to move to Oregon once he retired from LVMPD.

Greenway is excited to bring his experience and knowledge to St. Helens and build on the foundation that has already been set at the St. Helens Police Department.

“You can’t bring a big-city mentality to St. Helens,” said Greenway. “I want to bring ideas and what I have learned, but do it in a way that takes the community, businesses, the City Council, and other agencies into account.”

Initially, Greenway hopes to implement regular community meetings where local law enforcement officers can listen to concerns from the community and work together to problem-solve issues. He would also like to start more collaborative training with partner agencies such as the fire department and school district.

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For further information regarding the new St. Helens police chief, please contact St. Helens City Recorder Kathy Payne at kathy@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-366-8217.