On Monday, February 28th, Paul Biermaier retired as the Crookston Police Department Police Chief. His Lieutenant, Darin Selzler, has been appointed to take his place as the new Police Chief of the Crookston Police Department. Detective Nathan Nelson was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief, formerly known as Lieutenant. After one week of officially taking the position, Chief Selzler gave an update about some of the changes that he and the entire police department have been going through since his taking up of the new position.
Chief Darin Selzler has been with the Crookston Police Department for eighteen years and has worked closely with Biermaier in the Administration for the past eight. Especially during the past year with Biermaier bringing him to see the types of jobs and duties, he would be doing when he transitioned up to being the Police Chief, “The transition has been in place for a little bit of time, at least since the first of the year, maybe a little bit before that. I did have a few months where I was piggybacking Paul Biermaier in a lot of the meetings and was trying to get acclimated with some of those,” Selzler explained. He went on to explain that many of the duties he did as a Lieutenant greatly prepared him for many of his responsibilities that he would do to help City Council and the Department as a whole, but also about how there were still tasks and duties that he was not as familiar with. But that has not waned his enthusiasm for the job, “The biggest changes, obviously, with the Chief position, there are different organizations and groups that Chief Biermaier was a part of that I wasn’t. The Chief position does all the financial and budgeting work, which I had some things to do with while I was the Lieutenant, but not as in-depth as the Chief position. My Lieutenant position had me running the day-to-day operations, so I often felt I was busy just making sure the doors were open every day and everything. So, the Chief position has a little more policy, making sure we’re in line with State practices and different things, so, again, I’m fairly acclimated and pretty comfortable with what needs to be done, but it’s like anything until you get in there and do it, you’re still obviously learning. I can’t believe how fast the last eight years have gone by, and it feels like I’ve learned something new every day, and I know it’s going to be the same thing in this position, so I’m excited for it,” Selzler said.
But despite being put in a brand new position in place of a long, beloved leader and mentor, Selzler feels strongly that the positions for him and other members of the department have played a large part in raising morale for the department and his fellow officers, “Obviously it was sad to see Paul Biermaier leave, he was a great leader and such an asset to the city and the police department, and it’s impossible to replace those 32 years of service. But I know everyone’s really happy with the change, with myself taking the Chief of Police job and Nathan Nelson taking the Deputy Chief position. It’s been a real morale builder around here, and people are kind of excited about that. I think sometimes instead of bringing in somebody from the outside, having somebody that’s been here for so long, I think people appreciate that,” Selzler said. And with these new leaders taking their posts around the department, Selzler looks to help bring the police station back to the full functioning station it was before the COVID-19 pandemic by reviving department outreach programs and meetings, which in turn can then lead the station to help the city return to its pre-pandemic state, “I’m looking to make some subtle changes, the biggest is to bring back some internal and department meetings and a lot of outreach programs. From the Halloween party to, you name it, they’ve been put on hold. We’ve had a Police Reserve Organization that’s been put on hold for a couple of years, and we have a fair amount of police officers who are excited to get back in that role and do some different things. So, I guess for me, now that COVID is somewhat on the downslope, if you want to call it that, more of an endemic, I think we’re getting over it, hopefully. I’d like to start moving forward on revitalizing those organizations and maybe some different workgroups and things internally to start moving forward. It’s felt like everything’s been put on hold for a while, and we can move forward with that,” Selzer explained.
Along with his new duties as the Chief of Police, Selzler states that his top priorities are public safety and helping the city to move forward to a better future, which includes him assisting the new Interim City Administrator, Corky Reynolds, in any of his duties while the City Council looks for Administrator Finch’s successor, “The biggest thing is keeping forward progress with the city, we don’t want to be in a stalemate or anything like that, we want to keep making forward progress. I’ve worked with Corky for around 20 years with the City Prosecutor’s office, and he’s always been involved there. He’s an expert on city business and everything that comes with it. He’s worked closely with Amy, so I just felt that he was the best choice putting him in that role where he can still direct meetings; he’s got the expertise as far as resolutions and how that all needs to go,” Selzler said. He believes that his work in the Administration and with Chief Biermaier will be of great assistance to Administrator Reynolds with the many different duties he has to balance, “I know all of us are on the same page as far as department heads, but I just wanted to show my support and say that I’m willing to help in other areas if that’s what it takes, if it’s from day-to-day operations as far as some personnel issues or helping with hiring, whatever that looks like it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been with the city for 18 years, and I have some expertise in a lot of those areas, and I just wanted to volunteer my services so we could make sure we can do what’s best for the city and keep making forward progress with everything,”
Chief Selzler has only taken over the position of Crookston Police Chief for one week and still has many things left for him to unpack in his new office while he’s starting work as the Police Chief but is still feeling very optimistic about his new experiences at the station, “There were a lot of “meet and greet” meetings this week with a lot of organizations internally and externally throughout the city. Of course, I’m trying to settle into the new office, I still have lots of stuff boxed up in the tubs, so I’m still working on them. And just by chance, I’m getting a new computer this week on day one, so I felt like I was running around blind for a couple of days, but it’s been a terrific week,” Selzler said.
With a new age beginning for the Crookston Police Department, Chief Selzler claims that the future for Crookston is heading into brighter times and is excited to work with great people in the police department and with City Council. He gave thanks to everyone for their support of his new position, “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I’ve received as I transitioned to my new position, and I’m super excited for the future of Crookston. We’ve got such a great department head group, and as for the Police Department, we have such an awesome staff. The city is fortunate to have a group of individuals working at the Police Department. Public safety is and always will be my top priority, and again, I’m just really looking forward to the future,” Selzler said. Chief Selzler will now regularly attend Crookston City Council Meetings every other Monday, with the next one taking place on March 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.
