Chief Lind was born in Seattle, Washington and shortly thereafter moved to

California, where he has lived since 1958. He graduated locally from Soquel High

School and attended Cabrillo College and San Jose State University. He was the

"Outstanding Graduate" of the 44th Class of the Central Coast Counties Police

Academy at Gavilan College. Chief Lind is also a 1993 graduate of the 172nd

Session of the FBI National Academy, located in Quantico, Virginia.

He began his career with Scotts Valley Police Department in 1973 when he was hired as an part-time emergency dispatcher and reserve officer. He was hired as a full-time emergency dispatcher in July 1975. He was sworn in as a Scotts Valley police officer in 1977. He has held many positions in the department beginning with emergency dispatcher, reserve officer, police officer, field training officer, the City’s first motorcycle officer, Investigator, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. He was awarded Officer of the Year in 1974 and 1999. He was promoted to the position of Chief of Police in July of 2002.

His memberships include: California Police Chief Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, California Advisory Committee for “Fight Crime: Invest in Kids”, the Santa Cruz County Criminal Justice Council, Leadership Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team Council. He is also a member of the Scotts Valley Host Lions Club and the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Chief Lind’s personnel file is filled with Chief’s Commendations and numerous employee of the month awards. Steve was awarded the Exchange Club’s “Officer of the Year” award twice during his 31 years; once in 1974 and again in 1997.

Chief Lind was instrumental in writing the city’s Multi-Hazard Emergency Plan that is used today and has acted for many years as the city’s Office of Emergency Services Coordinator. He was also instrumental in initiating the department’s first Peer Counseling Program.

Throughout Chief Lind’s career his dedication and loyalty to the City of Scotts Valley is reflected in the fact he has been with the city for 31 years. Words to describe Chief Steven Lind include: great leadership ability, command presence, thorough, responsible, reliable, dependable and extremely professional.