Minot police sergeant ends long-standing career | News, sports, jobs

Submitted photo Sgt. Paul Burns sits at his desk at the Minot Police Department with his cocker spaniel, Piper.

After 28 1/2 years with the Minot Police Department, Paul Burns said he has enjoyed every minute since retiring in April.

Burns, who retired as a police sergeant, fulfilled his long-time goal of entering law enforcement when he joined the Minot Police Department. He said he has wanted to be a police officer for as long as he can remember.

He spent the first years of his life in Buffalo, New York before moving to Fort Pierce, Florida and graduating from Fort Pierce Westwood High School in 1985. He joined the US Air Force and arrived at Minot Air Force Base in 1986 and met his wife Kimberly in January 1987.

After returning to Florida, he attended the Indian River State College Police Academy in Fort Pierce. At the time, there was a hiring freeze across the state of Florida, so Burns returned to Minot to attend Minot State University, where he worked toward a degree in elementary education and a minor in criminal justice.

He wanted to have something to fall back on in case he got seriously injured at work.

However, he did not complete his studies. During his senior year, he received a call from the Minot Police Department offering him a job.

He left college to work full-time in the department.

Over the years, he managed to fulfill the reason he became a police officer in the first place.

“As cliché as it may sound, I wanted to help people.” Burns said.

He responded to a variety of cases including investigating car accidents and walking someone through the process of finding the correct information; We help elders figure out where the incessant beeping is coming from and replace batteries in smoke detectors. and responding to domestic violence and helping the survivor get out of the situation, as well as the usual role of the police “Catch the bad guy.”

However, the calls he chose to stay away from were accidents.

“They are time-consuming and there is no longer any connection from pen to paper. “Everything is done on the computer,” Burns said.

Still old-fashioned, Burns prefers to take his notes and file reports the old-fashioned way.

When Burns first joined the police force, there were no cameras in the cars. The first dashboard cameras were eight-millimeter cameras and the video recorder that recorded was in the trunk. Everything is digital now. Back then, body cameras weren’t an easy option, but Burns said he likes having a body camera.

Other reasons he joined the police force included the excitement, the fact that no two days are the same and the knowledge that he wouldn’t have to work at a desk most of the time.

He worked his way up to the rank of sergeant and could have gone higher, but he preferred to stay away from the administrative side of the job.

“I like being on the streets with the officers and catching the bad guys.” Burns said.

The first gun he ever used on this job was a Smith and Wesson 9mm. He resorted to a 45mm H&K handgun until all officers were required to carry department-issued 9mm Sig Sauer weapons.

In addition to his service in the Air Force, he also served in the Army National Guard and Air Force Reserves, where he completed a total of 31 years of military service.

Now that he is retired, he can spend his time with his wife, their daughter Autumn, and their cocker spaniel, Piper. The family plans to remain in North Dakota for a few more years before moving to Tennessee.