Established in March of 2000, the Woodbury Crime Prevention & Public Safety Board promotes the welfare of the City of Woodbury by raising funds to purchase items for the EMS, Fire and Police Divsions of Woodbury Public Saftety Department. As an all volunteer organization we take great pride in our work and our accomplishments.

The founding member of the Woodbury Crime Prevention & Public Safety Board was Greg Orth. 

Gregory T. Orth began his career in Woodbury in 1971 after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in sociology. He was a patrol officer for approximately four years and was promoted to Police Chief in 1975. At that time, Woodbury had a population of approximately 7,000 and the department had five police officers. As the city continued to grow and evolve, there was a need for a public safety director. Greg filled that role which included oversight of Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Management.

Greg led the Public Safety Department during years of phenomenal growth. When he retired in 2002, the city’s population was 50,000 and the number of sworn officers was 48. Many police officers had been cross-trained as paramedics. The Fire Services Division had six full time firefighters and a paid-on-call contingency of 65. Greg's legacy will live on in the department in the professional, customer service culture that he "created".

Near the end of his career (2000), Greg created the Woodbury Public Safety Board. He couldn’t serve on the board while he was actively employed by the City, but joined as soon as he retired. He soon became president of the Board and was able to continue to make contributions to the Woodbury Public Safety Department through his volunteer work with the Board.

When Greg was elected as Washington County Commissioner in 2006, he gave up his seat as president of the Public Safety Board, but remained an active member until the time of his death.

On January 12, 2008, Greg lost his life in a tragic accident. The members of the Woodbury Public Safety Board are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend and colleague. We are proud to continue to serve in the wonderful organization that Greg created. Though he will truly be missed, his legacy will live on.

A few words from Greg:

"I created the Board in 1999 – 2000. As a city employee, I could not serve on the Board; but when I retired in 2002 I joined. I created the Board to assist Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services to continue to make Woodbury one of the safest and most wonderful cities to live, work and visit. The Board has been quite effective. "

"My continued relationship with police, fire, and EMS is very positive for me. They are doing very well. In community surveys they are rated very high by the residents! I enjoy getting effective equipment for them and assisting in community education on public safety items." 

Your 2008 Woodbury Crime Prevention and Public Safety Board mebers are:

• Terri Smith - President
• Rich Jacobson - Vice President
• Kathy Mara - Secretary
• Janet Smekofske - Treasurer 
• Mike Johnson
• Jennifer Nodes
• Jerri Novak
• Kim Smekofske
• Cherie Skillings
• Candyce Stout
• Theodore (Ted) Zoukos

Board Fact Sheet

Current Occupation
Accredited Home Stager and Professional Organizer

Family
Adult daughter, police officer in California; parents and some siblings live/work in the area also.

Reason For Joining the Board
Members of my immediate family have been or currently are working in law enforcement, so joining the local board is an opportunity for me to support the field in a most effective way. I am honored to work with the board whose congenial members are generous with their time, energy, and resources. As a long-time resident of Woodbury, I can boast that we have an outstanding department.

Board Fact Sheet

• The Woodbury Crime Prevention & Public Safety Board, Inc. (WPSB) was organized in January of 2000 and incorporated on March 21, 2000 in the state of Minnesota under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 317A, Corporate Charter No. 1V-109.
• Our Employer Identification Number is: 41-1964228.
• We are a non-profit organization organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes and are organized under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to our organization may be tax deductible.
• Our purpose is to promote the welfare of the City of Woodbury by establishing a fund to be used for promoting crime prevention & public safety. We work cooperatively with the Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Departments in this endeavor.
• One of our major goals is to raise funds to purchase items that will increase the Public Safety Department's effectiveness and efficiency; items that due to budgetary constraints they would not otherwise be able to purchase.
• A wish list of items needed by the Police, Fire, and EMS has been prepared and represents our guidelines.
• The results we hope to achieve are to keep our city a safe place to live, shop and visit.
• We have no employees. The organization is comprised exclusively of volunteers that live and/or work in Woodbury.
• We sponsor community workshops and crime prevention seminars on issues currently of concern to the general public.

Contact Information

To be considered for Board membership, click here for an application.

To mail a correspondence to the board or to make a cash donation, please write us at P.O. Box 25991, Woodbury, MN 55125. Thank you.