MOORHEAD - Bill Bergquist is a four-decade veteran of working in law enforcement, including many years as a volunteer firefighter.
At the end of 2018, he will retire and hang up his badge as sheriff of Clay County, a job he has held for about 16 years. During those years, Bergquist spent a lot of time out and about in Clay County.
One of the things he carried with him, along with his badge and his gun, was a camera. In addition to nabbing suspects and striving to help people in times of disaster, Bergquist took pictures.
He stores about a dozen photo albums' worth of those pictures in his office in the Moorhead Law Enforcement Center. Some of the albums have labels, such as "Barnesville," and "Hawley," indicating the community where the photos were taken.
In the "Ulen" album, for example, you'll find photos of Ulen's Turkey Days.
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Bergquist said he will give the albums when he retires to the communities whose names are written on them to do what they will. In addition to images of civic events and calls for service, such as fires, sprinkled throughout the albums are random photos of things Bergquist simply found photogenic, such as abandoned barns and old farm equipment.
As he recently leafed through the albums, Bergquist paused when he came upon shots of a helicopter.
"These are my favorites, the helicopters," Bergquist said, adding that a close second are the shots of old barns.
But ask him what he loved most about his job and Bergquist will say: "People, people, people."
His people re-elected him time and time again by healthy margins, and Bergquist thinks he knows why.
"I go to many, many events," Bergquist said, estimating he has attended thousands of "coffee with a cop" get-togethers over the years in one small town or another.
Not one to wax poetic about his years as sheriff, Bergquist summed up his tenure in simple terms.
"It's been very great," he said.
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Snapshot of a career
Bill Bergquist grew up in Dilworth and now lives in Moorhead.
He received his law enforcement training at a technical college in Alexandria, Minn., as well as what is now Minnesota State University Moorhead. He also received specialized training through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI.
He has worked as police officer for the cities of Glyndon and Dilworth and as a member of the Clay County Police Reserves.
He's been a member of the Dilworth Fire Department since 1976.
Before becoming Clay County sheriff, a job he has held for about 16 years, Bergquist worked for the Moorhead Police Department, where he served as the department's D.A.R.E officer for 14 years.
