LAKE MINNETONKA
COMMUNITY GUIDE 2026
Safeguarding the West Metro
South Lake Minnetonka
The South Lake Minnetonka and Deephaven police departments and Excelsior Fire District are the public safety bodies that care for their communities.
The South Lake Minnetonka Department has served Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Tonka Bay since 1973 through the joint powers agreement, one of the oldest agreements of its kind in the state. The station is located at 24150 Smithtown Road in Shorewood.
Justin Ballsrud was sworn in as the new chief for the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department in 2025. He took over for Brian Tholen, who had been chief since start of 2022.
The Deephaven Police Department serves Deephaven and Woodland and is led by Chief Cory Johnson. The department is located at 20225 Cottagewood Road in Deephaven.
The Excelsior Fire District maintains its reputation as one of the oldest fire departments in the state, serving its communities for more than 125 years. The department serves Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood and Tonka Bay. The district has more than 40 trained members and a call volume of over 1,000 responses annually. The department has two fire stations, with its main station at 24100 Smithtown Road in Shorewood. The second station is at 20227 Cottagewood Road in Deephaven. The Fire District is led by Interim Fire Chief Nate Basinger.
Minnetonka
Minnetonka’ s police and fire departments are led by Police Chief Scott Boerboom and Fire Chief Kevin Fox, who work together to keep roughly 53,000 residents safe.
In 2021, Minnetonka upgraded its public safety campus at 14550 Minnetonka Blvd., constructing a new fire station and remodeling the existing facility into a modern police headquarters.
The Police Department, located at 14600 Minnetonka Blvd., is composed of 62 sworn officers and 19 non-sworn support staff who provide proactive patrol, incident response, and emergency medical aid.
Minnetonka’ s Fire Department is a combination agency utilizing full-time career staff and 50 to 70 paid-on-call firefighters, all trained in hazardous materials, medical response, and firefighting.
Wayzata
The Wayzata Police Department serves the citizens of Wayzata and Long Lake with a force of 18 sworn officers. Under the leadership of Police Chief Jamie Baker, the department includes a deputy chief, two patrol sergeants, a detective sergeant, a school resource officer, 11 patrol officers and a K9 unit. The department is supported by non-sworn personnel, including two full-time administrative records specialists and part-time community service officers, in addition to a volunteer police reserve unit.
The Wayzata Fire Department is a volunteer agency serving the city of Wayzata and contracting with the city of Woodland for fire coverage. With a roster of approximately 30 volunteers, the department operates from one station covering 3.8 square miles and handles about 300 calls for service annually.
The department is headed by Fire Chief Kevin Klapprich, who has served as chief since 2006. Klapprich comes from a family of five generations of firefighters in Wayzata. His father, Paul, was fire chief and served 48 years in the department. Klapprich’ s brother, Kurt, serves as assistant fire chief.
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