Photo by Deb Gau Minneota Police Chief Bill Bolt looks back on his law enforcement career this week. He will be retiring next week after a 25-year career in law enforcement, including 10 years as Minneota police chief.

MINNEOTA — For 10 years, Bill Bolt wasn’t just the chief of police in Minneota — he was the only police officer in the community of about 1,400.

“What people don’t realize is, to a certain extent you know everybody,” he said of his job. “It’s a lot to be responsible for.”

Starting this year, Bolt said he will be going on “a new adventure” in life. After next week, he will be retiring as police chief.

“I am nervous, a little bit. This will be a big change,” Bolt said Thursday. He’s been in law enforcement for over 25 years. “But I am excited for it.”

In December, Bolt gave notice that he would be stepping down. The city of Minneota is currently advertising for a new police chief.

Bolt came to Minnesota from California in 1996 to attend Alexandria Technical and Community College’s law enforcement program.

“The culture shock was wild, and the climate was wild,” Bolt said of the move.

But he and his wife Kelly chose to stay.

“Coming out here, there was a slower pace of life, and seasons. But we decided this is where we wanted to raise a family,” he said.

Bolt’s first law enforcement job was in the city of Winnebago. In 2002, he joined the Worthington Police Department, and in 2014 he became police chief in Minneota.

Being a police officer in a small community is still a big job, Bolt said. He wasn’t only there in situations where someone broke the law. He was called to situations where people were in crisis, or even positive occasions.

“I’ve delivered death notices. I’ve delivered a baby in a parking lot,” he said.

That special delivery happened in 2019 when a mother in labor didn’t think she could make it to the hospital in Marshall before her baby arrived. Bolt and other Minneota emergency responders met her in the parking lot outside the Minneota city office and police station, and helped deliver her baby.

Bolt’s job meant being on call 24 hours a day, five days a week, he said.

“It’s very hard. It’s hard on your family,” he said.

A lot has changed in the field of law enforcement over the past 25 years, Bolt said. Public perceptions of police have changed, both in positive and negative ways. There also seemed to be different views of right and wrong, he said.

But in spite of all the changes, Bolt said his goal was to help people. As chief, he wanted to take a “more creative” approach, and engage with people before they have problems.

“People need to be held accountable for their actions, but the goal should be to get people to make better decisions,” he said. He said part of his approach was to treat people with respect.

“There are no good or bad people. There are only good and bad decisions. People struggle with daily challenges,” Bolt said.

He hoped his actions could help make a “ripple effect” beyond the people he interacted with on the job.

After announcing he would retire, Bolt said, “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and thank me. That’s been very positive.”

Bolt said he was also glad to have worked in police training and mentorship over the course of his career.

“That’s one of the things I look back on fondly,” he said. He hoped that he helped to make a difference for other law enforcement officers.

Bolt said he still plans to be active in the area community even after retiring as police chief. Bill and Kelly own Bolt’s Lake Benton Grocery.

Bolt said he looks forward to getting to spend more time with family, and he also plans to drive a school bus and to try to become a motorcycle safety instructor.

“I’m going to stay active and take it one day at a time,” he said.