Retired Whitefish police chief reflects on long career

Many of you have heard the saying that “you never work a day in your life if you love what you do for a living.”

The past 41 years and three months, I didn’t work one day. For many law enforcement professionals from my generation, law enforcement is a way of life. When I was hired as Whitefish police chief, I was asked during the interviews what were the most important things in my life. I remember vividly my response; “God, my family and my law enforcement career; not necessarily always in that order." It has been an honor to serve for almost 20 years as the Whitefish police chief, and to those who have supported me and embraced my leadership style, I am deeply humbled. This community has embraced the community policing model, which has been reflected in my leadership style, which I deeply appreciate.

To the naysayers, I can look in the mirror every day and know in my heart that I did the right thing for the right reasons when no one was looking.

I had been planning to retire at the end of this year. Since the shelf life of most modern-day police chiefs is three to five years, and I was in my 20th year, will turn 73 in September, and because of the increased stress and scrutiny of police departments, which has been demonstrated by some unscrupulous news outlets in the Valley, I decided it is time to retire now. About a month ago, my wife asked me why I was going to retire in the most dismal part of the year. She asked me to retire now so we can spend some quality time together before my next career begins.

In reflecting over the last nearly 20 years, I was hired shortly after 9/11/2001 and moved here from Illinois after a 22-year career with the Illinois State Police. Looking back, I am proud of what we’ve accomplished and wouldn’t change anything I have done other than to encourage others to have a sense of humor and not be so focused on rhetoric and to embrace and celebrate outcomes. I have surrounded myself, for the most part, with great personnel. This, as my good friend Frank Garner would say, has allowed me to take credit for all their hard work.

With the assistance of my best friend and partner in life, my wife, we pursued state and federal grants and were successful in securing millions of dollars in grant funding for the police department, including hundreds of thousands of dollars for equipment for all phases of PD operation. Nearly $1 million was awarded for the new Emergency Services Center.

Funding also allowed us to hire additional officers, start a very successful School Resource Officer program, participate in the Flathead County drug task force, initiate and sustain boat and motorcycle patrols and supplement overtime funding for special traffic enforcement and drug interdiction.

In addition to programs that were grant-funded, we were able to partner with other law enforcement agencies for many successful programs. There are those in the community who have donated money to the police department without fanfare, chest beating or thinking that they’re Batman. To those philanthropists I say a deeply felt thank you. And, we thank groups such as the Whitefish VFW, Flathead Electric Cooperative and many other community-minded groups.

It is interesting when a public figure suddenly decides to leave a position how social media will take on a life of its own. Even though I don’t participate in social media, friends of mine have told me some of the comments that were posted. A very wise former police chief, mentor and friend once told me if everyone in the community loves you, you are not doing your job. As I have always told those who I led, “if you screw up, take your kick in the pants, learn from it and move on.” It’s unfortunate that those who did “screw up” and moved on can’t or won’t accept responsibility for their actions, or lack thereof.

I don’t want to sound like a person accepting an award and being long-winded, but there are numerous people who I must thank for their support, friendship and love. Foremost is my wife, Jo Ann, my two children, and my three English Springer Spaniels who met me at the door every day with unconditional love no matter now bad the day was.

I would also like to thank former and current city managers, former and current City Council members, chaplains, both of my former assistant chiefs, Lonnie Herrmann and Mike Ferda and current interim police chief, and hopefully soon to be Police Chief Bridger Kelch.

I would be remiss if I did not thank all the current police officers, Detective Schuch and the office staff for their dedication to the community and their unparalleled professionalism during these trying times facing law enforcement. Thanks also needs to go to the late Jim Dupont, former Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner and until two weeks ago, my three current law enforcement leaders in the valley, Doug Overman, Clint Peters and Brian Heino. We made a great team.

Many people have asked me since my retirement how I did the job for so long. My response is: have a clear conscience, forgive those who criticize you, be empathetic to the unintentional violator and most of all have a sense of humor. And speaking of having a sense of humor; to the “Woke” left and those who wring their hands and worry about political correctness: try taking a deep breath, smile, and when the time is right poke a little fun at your friends, and most importantly yourself. And as my grandma used to say, you won’t walk around looking like you are constipated.

May God bless this community, your law enforcement officers, your community leaders, and most importantly the USA.

Bill Dial, Retired Whitefish Police Chief