Officer Boltjes reflects on career
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FAIRMONT-- Officer Bryan Boltjes of the Fairmont Police Department will be retiring at the end of the month. Boltjes has been with the Fairmont Police Department since 2001, but he's been a police officer since 1995.
Originally from Worthington, Boltjes said that upon graduating high school, he intended to go into construction work. However, he had friends who were police officers in Worthington and his brother was a deputy at the time so he ended up going on a few ride alongs.
"I didn't go back to school right away for law enforcement. It was about seven years before I went back," Boltjes said.
He did construction in between and worked in the stock yards at what was formerly Montford Pork. In 1994, Boltjes started school at Range Technical College in Hibbing. He started working part-time for the Ivanhoe and Lake Benton Police Departments and upon graduating in 1996, he continued to work part-time for a number of departments.
In 1998 he was hired full-time as a police officer for the city of Jackson. Boltjes remained there until May 2001, when he switched over as a full-time officer for the city of Fairmont.
"When I was in Jackson, before I left, I was their K9 handler. When I came here, the city bought the dog from the city of Jackson so I was the K9 handler here," Boltjes said.
The first K9 was retired out and he began work with a second. He stopped being a K9 handler, but held a number of different roles within the department, including patrol officer, intoxilyzer operator (now data master) and crisis intervention officer, which he has most recently been working as.
Looking back on his many years in law enforcement, Boltjes noted advances in technology as one of the biggest changes he's seen.
"When I started in ’95, we did not have a computer in our office. We typed reports on a typewriter yet. Now our squad cars have computers in them," Boltjes said.
He said that equipment has gotten much better. While in Jackson, he was a founding member of the Regional Emergency Response Unit (HEAT) and said they had little to work with but now they have robots and drones.
The interest in and competitiveness of positions has also changed. Boltjes said when he started, it was the era of the "Clinton Cops," and many departments had extra money to hire extra officers.
"I tested for a position in the city of Lakefield in ’96. There were two positions and over 300 applicants for the two positions," Boltjes said.
Now, departments everywhere are struggling to find officers to fill positions. Boltjes said, "we need police officers and we need good police officers. It's hard to find good people to go into that career field."
Boltjes said it's hard to pinpoint what his favorite part of being an officer has been. He said he enjoyed being a K9 handler and has also liked the variety the job has brought.
"It's never the same everyday. Working in an office 9 to 5 everyday would get monotonous for me. We never know what we'll be dealing with, good, bad or otherwise," Boltjes said.
The decision to retire is bittersweet for Boltjes. He'll be 55 this fall and said his youngest son will soon be 17 and that he'd like to spend some more time with him.
"That's one of the downfalls to police work. We're at work a lot and we're at work during nights, weekends and holidays," Boltjes said.
Along with spending time with his family, Boltjes is looking forward to focusing on his hobbies, which include hunting and fishing.
While he may be retiring, he's not necessarily slowing down. Boltjes has been active in Pheasants Forever, Fairmont Trap Club and also helps coach the Fairmont Trap Team.
"When people found out I was retiring, they were like, 'hey, we have more for you to do now.' It almost seems like I'm going to be busier," Boltjes said with a laugh.
While he said he didn't think he would miss the day-to-day grind of taking and responding to calls, he would miss the camaraderie that came with the job.
"We have a good group of people here and the city will be well taken care of in the future," Boltjes said.
Police Chief Mike Hunter said he worked on the street with officer Boltjes for many years serving the community and admired his commitment to helping the citizens.
"We wish him all the best with his retirement," Hunter said.
Hunter said they recently added an officer to the department and are currently hiring for two full-time officers.