Erik Fadden grew up in the Plymouth area, graduated from Wayzata High School in Plymouth and has devoted nearly all of his professional life to serving the community as a member of the Plymouth Police Department.
Fadden began his career with the Minnetrista Police Department in 2001 as a police officer. In 2004, he was hired by Plymouth Police Department where he served as a patrol officer, then canine handler for department. In 2009 he was promoted to police sergeant where he served as a patrol supervisor until 2015 when he was appointed to the position of proactive police sergeant. In that capacity he supervised the special investigations unit which was tasked with combatting quality of life issues including narcotics and human trafficking.

In 2018 was named deputy police chief. In February 2021, Fadden was appointed Director of Public Safety where he oversees the Police Department and Fire Department. He currently serves on the board of the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police Association.

Fadden holds a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement from Minnesota State University, Mankato and has pursued professional studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. and the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, D.C.