Police Chief, Paul Biermaier, is retiring from the Crookston Police Department on Monday, February 28th, after 32 years of service to the Crookston Police Department and 8 and a half years as the Chief of Police.
Chief Biermaier received a lot of positive support and reactions from his fellow department members and city council members on his retirement. He wanted to thank the people of Crookston for all of their support to him over his years of service as an officer and Chief. “To the public, a thank you to them for allowing me the opportunity and the honor to be chief for them. It really was an honor and a privilege, and I didn’t take it lightly. I tried to do a good job, and I think, for the most part, things have gone well. To the officers and the department and law enforcement in general, keep your head down, but keep your chin up. And even though it’s been tough for the past few years, I think things are starting to come back, it really is a good, rewarding profession, and it’s a good career to take. I encourage anybody who is thinking about law enforcement to really think seriously about and look into it and maybe take those next steps,” he said. “To everybody here at the Crookston Police Department just, thank you. It’s been a good run, and they do a great job. It really comes down to over all the years, everybody that I’ve interacted with, including City Council, everybody’s just been positive, and everybody’s been supportive. And some last final words, just thank you to my kids and my wife. They have supported me for 32 years. They just have. Whether it was quietly or openly, but that’s probably been the best part of the past 32 years, is the support from them and knowing that they appreciate what I’ve been doing,”
Though he is retiring from the police force, Chief Biermaier has no intentions to stop working quite yet, as he is also in charge of several part-time businesses with his wife, Karen, and wants to put more time into them. But he primarily plans to enjoy his retirement by spending as much time as possible with his wife and his children and grandchildren to make up for all the time he missed with them while on the job. “For 32 years, I worked the first seven years of my career were nights, and that was tough on my family. Even if they never said anything about it, I realize now how tough it was for them. And my wife, I’d get home at 5:30-6:00 in the morning and go to sleep, but she was the one that got the kids up and got them going,” he explained, “So, I have some payback to them for all of the sacrifices they made, and there really was a lot of sacrifices, the things I missed. That’s the biggest thing, really. I don’t have any real big, hard-set plans, and that’s the way I wanted it. So that I could really just do what I wanted on a daily basis,”
His favorite part of when he was a police officer and the Chief of Police is not any specific takedown or solved case, but that whenever he helps people and sees their appreciativeness and support for the work that the officers do for them, either by being gifted a meal or snack while on duty or by just hearing that the county appreciates their efforts.
He noted how the police force has changed drastically from when he first started work as an officer in 1990, where they had one computer for the support staff, and the light controls for the police cars were initially just one metal plate with four toggle switches. Now there are in-car and body cameras, new weapons, and larger amounts of documentation and paperwork they use now, “I can remember reading an old report from a guy back in the 80s, and his DWI report said, “Saw drunk, arrested same,” That was it. I mean, it had his name on there but that was it,” Biermaier recounted, “Now, there’s so much more to do with it, and none of our reports are handwritten anymore. Everything is typed but not only that but everything now is sent to the courts and the prosecuting attorneys electronically. And it goes from one place to the next for signatures to a judge, back and forth, and it’s just amazing how it’s done. But the downside to all of that is we don’t get to see the people up at court administration like we used to. When we had to sign a complaint, we had to sign it in front of the judge. Well, now it’s all done electronically, so the judges don’t get to see us, so that personal part of it has really changed and really gone by the wayside with so many things in society, but that’s probably the biggest part of it,”
The next in the line of succession for the next Chief of Police will be Deputy Chief Darren Selzler, who has been on the department board for 18 years, with Nathan Nelson becoming the new Deputy Chief after him. Who both Chief Biermaier and City Administrator Finch believed was the next natural choice. “It was just kind of a natural choice, just a natural progression, and that’s what we try to do with succession planning.” Biermaier explained, “So, I’m just excited for him, I’m excited for the department. You know when a person leaves, there’s obviously going to be changes, and it’s kind of an exciting time for the whole department because Darren changes position, and then the next person, Nate Nelson, is going to take the Deputy Chief spot, so then his position opens up, and it’s just a good time for movement, and people get to try some new things,”
Police Chief Biermaier will be serving his last day as Chief at the Crookston Police Department on Monday, February 28th, and will have an Open House Retirement Party at City Hall on Friday, February 26th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The post PAUL BEIRMAIER RETIRES AFTER 32 YEARS AT CROOKSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT, 8 OF THEM AS POLICE CHIEF appeared first on KROX.
