ALDERFER APPOINTED Greenfield Police Chief

By Editor | September 30, 2025 |

Greenfield Mayor Brock Meyer, left, welcomes Nate Alderfer as the city’s new Chief of Police, taking over the reins from John Goode, who has accepted the position of Chief of Police for the city of Carrollton. (Submitted photo)

By Carmen Ensinger

There is a lot of change taking place in Greene County law enforcement with the start of a new month, with both Greenfield and Carrollton naming new Chiefs of Police.
Greenfield City Council convened in special session on Friday, Sept. 26, at which time they swore in Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Nate Alderfer as their new Chief of Police, taking over the reigns from John Goode, who was hired as a patrolman for the city of Carrollton at their September meeting.
Goode’s last day with Greenfield was Oct. 1 and Carrollton City Council also convened a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 29 at which time Officer Goode will be sworn in as the new Chief of Police for Carrollton, replacing Jimmy Buchanan.
“After 15 years of service to the City of Greenfield, Chief John Goode has accepted a position as Chief of Police for the City of Carrollton,” Greenfield Mayor Brock Meyer said. “This leaves some big shoes to fill. After Chief Goode’s tenure with the City of Greenfield, our department is as technologically capable as any larger community in our area and we are forever grateful to him for his expertise in getting our department as far as it has come.”
When Goode announced his imminent departure, Meyer said he didn’t have to look too far to find an officer to assume his position.
“I immediately thought of one person that I knew could step in for Chief Goode to carry the torch even further,” Meyer said. “Someone who truly cares for our community and police officers like his own family.”
Alderfer has many years under his belt as a Greenfield Police Officer and Assistant Chief under Goode, as well as other departments, including the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Alderfer said he started his career in law enforcement in 2016 in Grafton and has since worked in Greene, Jersey, Calhoun and Macoupin counties.
“My longest stint with one department has been right here in Greenfield,” he said. “I was the Assistant Chief from 2020 to 2024 before taking a job with the Greene County Sheriff’s Department. My proudest time as an officer was when I was working in Greenfield.”
Alderfer said he has a couple of goals he will be working towards.
“I am a very fiscally conservative person, so one of my biggest goals is to save the tax payer dollars,” he said. “I think there are some things we can cut to save money and put that money elsewhere, which would benefit us and our vision of where we want the city to go.”
“Another goal is to build relationships with the youth in the community and the schools and getting some programs started with the younger generation,” he said. “I would like to start with the kids when they are in elementary school, touching base with them about bicycle safety, stranger danger and presenting age-related information about law enforcement and public safety.”
In addition to starting some programs for the youth, Alderfer said he plans to put in place more enforcement on Highway 267, which runs through Greenfield.
“I want to really emphasize to everyone that even though we are the smallest community in this county, the highway keeps us very busy,” Alderfer said. “This highway is full of drugs, guns and people with warrants coming through. This is a major route between Alton and Jacksonville so my biggest thing to change is to have more enforcement on the highway.”
Alderfer said that one area he plans to focus on is Driving Under the Influence (DUI) enforcement.
“That is a very critical aspect of law enforcement because it is one of the most dangerous areas we can enforce,” he said. “This is where some of the programs for the youth that I have is going to come in. I want to do the mock DUI crashes for the students and really get the information out there about the consequences of Driving Under the Influence.”
Meyer went on to say that Alderfer’s dedication to law enforcement and public safety are apparent to all who know him.
“In a small town, losing a Chief can be a very stressful time,” Meyer said. “Luckily, Mr. Alderfer accepted the position without hesitation and we were able to put a deal together quickly.”
Meyer said Alderfer has many attributes, but the most important one he brings to the position as Chief of Police has nothing to do with law enforcement.
“Out of all of the attributes that Chief Alderfer will bring to the table for our citizens, the greatest has nothing to do with law enforcement,” he said. “Chief Alderfer is, simply put, a good man and will protect and serve Greenfield with integrity.”