Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Officer retires after 32 years - 3/29/2008t�saGC .7� V�fjJGi! iat
state
Burnsville's second state
basketball bid since 2004 ends
with an opening -round loss to
Robinsdale Cooper.
See Sports, 10A
Fire call indicates
911 problems
persist
Frustrated that some 911 calls
in Dakota County are not
ringing through to dispatch -
Officer retires after 32 years
by Erin Johnson
THISW EEK NEWSPAPERS
When officer Bill White
began at the Eagan Police
Department in 1976, he was
one of only 17 police officers.
Pilot Knob was still a coun-
try road, and the city had
only about three stoplights.
White has seen many "big-
time" changes in his three de-
cades with the department
— he worked for all five of the
city's chiefs of police — but
now he's decided it's time to
hang up his hat for good.
"It was a good city to work
for, and I've always been sur-
rounded by good people," he
said. "I've had a good run."
White will retire on April
30 after 32 years of serving
and protecting the people of
of service
Officer Bill White has worked for all five of the Eagan Police
Department's chiefs in his three -decade career.
Eagan. "If you were an Eagan
He will be missed, Police citizen and had any contact
Chief Jim McDonald said. with a police officer, you'd
want it to be Bill White," he
said. "First and foremost, if
it was a traffic stop, you'd
be more likely given a break
than a ticket."
White spent a lot of time
educating people on how to
protect themselves and pre-
vent crime, he said. He also
cared enough to follow up
with people he had helped,
he said.
"I think our citizens have
grown accustomed to a pret-
ty high level of service, and
in my mind, Bill is the model
for other officers here," he
said. "He's one of a kind."
In 1996, White was select-
ed to talk to then Vice Presi-
dent Al Gore and Sen. Paul
Wellstone about community
See White, 8A
8A March 29, 2008 THISWEEK
White/from lA
policing when they came to
Eagan to discuss President
Bill Clinton's crime initia-
tive.
"Really, all eyes of the na-
tion were here, and Bill was
at the center of that," Mc-
Donald said.
White said he had wanted
to be a police officer since he
was in junior high.
"The two things I wanted
to do in my life is become a
police officer and become a
Marine, and I was able to do
both of those," he said.
He joined the Marine
Corps in 1971. He was on
active duty until 1974, and
then he joined reserves, with
which he served in the first
Gulf War and reached the
rank of sergeant major be-
fore retiring in 2000.
White said he first applied
to the Eagan Police Depart-
ment as a dispatcher.
"I took the test, but I can't
tic
type. I type about 10 words a
minute and half of those are
spelled wrong," he said. "So
needless to say, I failed the
dispatcher test."
After being hired as a ca-
det — essentially a commu-
nity officer — he joined the
department as a part-time
police officer and was hired
full time a year later.
"Back then, the city had
maybe 15,000 people, and
a lot of these roads were
just two-lane country roads
— Cliff, Pilot Knob, Diffley,"
he said. "We still had work-
ing farms, so you spent a
lot of time running around
chasing wayward horses and
cattle and pigs."
One of his favorite parts
of the job was meeting peo-
ple in the community, he
said.
"I've met a lot of good
people in this city, and a
lot of those people I call
`friends' today," he said.
His least favorite part,
he said, was responding to
suicides and having to no-
tify families of a loved one's
death.
"I would rather go to a
bank robbery or a shootout
than do a death notifica-
tion," he said.
One of the most difficult
death notifications he ever
had to give was to the family
of Lance Cpl. Daniel Olsen,
who was killed last spring
while serving in Iraq.
White joined two repre-
sentatives from the Marine
Corps and a police chaplain
to deliver the news.
"That was the hardest
thing I ever did, because he
was a Marine, and he was so
young," he said.
The brotherhood of the
department helped get him
through the hard times, he
said.
"The biggest thing is the
people here, the camarade-
rie," he said. "My fellow em-
ployees and officers made a
difficult job easier with their
friendships and jokes. You
could talk to them and they,
understand your feelings
while people that aren't i
this job don't understand."
Choosing to retire was a
agonizing decision, Whit
said, one that had him pac
ing the halls in doubt unti
the moment he handed hi
letter to the chief.
The letter read, "All good
things have to come to an
end, and I guess that time is
here for me."
"I'm leaving very reluc-
tantly. It was a very diffi-
cult decision and I thought
about it for a real long time,"
he said. "So I'll probably be
depressed for the first cou-
ple of years. When I retire
from the Marines, it took in
about two years to get ove
it. I've done this my whol
adult life — the city's been in
home. "'
There are some things t
look forward to, however.
1� Home Equity Line of Credit U.S. Bank can get you that
with a 4.74% APR Home Equity Line of Credit. With
'440 no An ol no closing costs, no Points, and A finht'ni"_ i....t t..-.
)e. I type about 10 words a
nute and half of those are
I-lled wrong," he said. "So
.-dless to say, I failed the
;patcher test."
After being hired as a ca-
t — essentially a commu-
y officer — he joined the
partment as a part-time
lice officer and was hired
1 time a year later.
"Back then, the city had
iybe 15,000 people, and
lot of these roads were
t two-lane country roads
Tiff, Pilot Knob, Diffley,"
said. "We still had work -
farms, so you spent a
of time running around
using wayward horses and
ale and pigs."
One of his favorite parts
the job was meeting peo-
in the community, he
d.
"I've met a lot of good
:)ple in this city, and a
of those people I call
.ends' today," he said.
His least favorite part,
he said, was responding to
suicides and having to no-
tify families of a loved one's
death.
"I would rather go to a
bank robbery or a shootout
than do a death notifica-
tion," he said.
One of the most difficult
death notifications he ever
had to give was to the family
of Lance Cpl. Daniel Olsen,
who was killed last spring
while serving in Iraq.
White joined two repre-
sentatives from the Marine
Corps and a police chaplain
to deliver the news.
"That was the hardest
thing I ever did, because he
was a Marine, and he was so
young," he said.
The brotherhood of the
department helped get him
through the hard times, he
said.
"The biggest thing is the
people here, the camarade-
rie," he said. "My fellow em-
ployees and officers made a
difficult job easier with their
friendships and jokes. You
could talk to them and they'd
understand your feelings,
while people that aren't in
this job don't understand."
Choosing to retire was an
agonizing decision, White
said, one that had him pac-
ing the halls in doubt until
the moment he handed his
letter to the chief.
The letter read, "All good
things have to come to an
end, and I guess that time is
here for me."
"I'm leaving very reluc-
tantly. It was a very diffi-
cult decision and I thought
about it for a real long time,"
he said. "So I'll probably be
depressed for the first cou-
ple of years. When I retired
from the Marines, it took me
about two years to get over
it. I've done this my whole
adult life — the city's been my
home. "'
There are some things to
look forward to, however.
0
U.S. Bank can get you that
with a 4.74% APR Home Equity Line of Credit. With
no Cimino rnsts_ no nnints_ anri a linhtninn-fa.qt tiirn
He will no longer have to
work during holidays and
family get-togethers, so he
can spend more time with
his wife, their five daughters
and their six grandchildren.
He plans to spend more
time in his shed, working on
various projects, such as tan-
ning hides, crafting things
out of birch bark and carv-
ing spoons out of wood.
"I have a lot of hobbies
that will keep me very busy,"
he said.
A history buff, he also
will spend more time in the
summers going to rendez-
vous, which are gatherings
of history buffs who spend a
week or weekend living out a
different period in history.
White likes to set up his
teepee and live like an Amer-
ican Indian on the plains in
the 1800s. He's also taking
Dakota language classes.
"I've learned so much
about American history,
more so than I did in school,"
he said. "I'll have the time
now to go to more."
White said, as a police of-
ficer, he always tried to deal
with people as if they were
his own family. He spends a
lot of time these days think-
ing back on the people he's
had contact with and wheth-
er or not he made an im-
pact.
"I wonder whatever hap-
pened to them. Did those
families make it? Did their
problems get solved? Did
life get better for them? I just
think back to all of those
years, all of the people I've
dealt with," he said.
White said he wants to
thank the citizens and busi-
ness owners of Eagan "for
all the support they've given
us over the years," he said.
"That means a lot to us."
He is also thankful for the
long career he had with the
city of Eagan, which he said
he will miss tremendously.
"Sometimes people have a
talent for singing or writing
or art," he said. "I guess the
gift I was given is to give ser-
vice to people."
A retirement party is
scheduled for White at 2
p.m. Thursday, May 1, in the
Eagan Room. The public is
invited to attend.
Erin Johnson is at eagan.
thisweek@ecm-inc. com.
