SPEARFISH, SD – The longest-serving leader of the Spearfish Police Department is set to retire June 20th.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Public Safety Director Pat Rotert said, describing after nearly 35 years in law enforcement, 24 of which were leading the Spearfish Police Department, he recognizes it will be a major change.
Rotert grew up in Sturgis and studied history and education in college, with plans to be a teacher and coach. However, because of role models associated with law enforcement during his youth and seeing the ways in which he was impacted by those connections, he kept gravitating towards the profession. He eventually applied for and got a job with the police department in Gering, Neb., beginning on Jan. 4, 1991, as a patrol officer, and he worked his way up through the department over the 10 years he spent there, working as a drug investigator before being promoted to lieutenant.
Rotert, married with a young family when he saw the advertisement for the police chief in Spearfish, applied for the job. Though he knows there were candidates with more experience, he was the right combination of knowing the area, having grown up in the Black Hills, but having some distance from the department, not having worked there before, that the city council was looking for at the time. He was hired as the police chief in Spearfish in 2001, officially taking the reins June 4. He served as chief until 2019, when the director of public safety position was created and he took on the new role, overseeing both the police and fire departments.
“My goal has always been to leave (the department) better than I found it,” he said. “When I first came here, they were a very good department on the law enforcement aspect of things, but we were really struggling organizationally … and I’m just proud of the strides the department has made.”
Rotert said he doesn’t take credit for the changes: “One of my better skill sets is surrounding myself with competent people and letting them do their job. I think that had a lot to do with changing organizational culture.”
The other aspect is always keeping the focus on service, and Rotert said the best part of a career in law enforcement is helping people and having an impact.
“Even when you take an enforcement action that somebody feels is adversarial towards them, there’s a really good chance you’re impacting them for the good,” he said, describing when he considers arrests involving someone driving under the influence, for example, he knows there are people alive today, whether the driver, or passengers, or other motorists on the roadways, pedestrians, etc., because of an officer’s action.
“You help someone, there’s instant impact,” he said. “That’s the best part. … You don’t get that in every job.”
Rotert also enjoys solving problems, so even when that meant stressful or overwhelming times over the years, he felt a great deal of satisfaction working through issues and seeing the impact on the community. However, after years of working a job that knows no time limits as incidents occur 24/7/365, he is looking forward to waking up in the morning the day after he retires and knowing the torch has been passed to the next generation of leadership.
Rotert credits his wife, Lynnett, and their four children and their support of his vocation as contributing to his longevity in law enforcement.
“Lynnett and I both understood what it took to make it successful, from shift work, to raising kids, to you name it,” he said. “You had to learn to leave work on the front porch and pick it back up again in the morning.”
He remembers his wife once said she wanted to make sure their family got the same person as the public did, a sentiment Rotert took it to heart, striving to make a work-life balance a priority, staying involved in his children’s sports and activities, and always making family time. He describes his children as “rock stars,” as he knows it wasn’t fun being the child of the police chief when they were growing up, having to live in the same “glass house” as he did as a city department head.
“So that was challenging, but we had a great family dynamic and that really made it work,” he said.
Rotert is looking forward to being able to spend more time in his retirement doing the things he enjoys. He plans to travel and focus on relationships and his grandchildren, and he knows he will eventually find his next occupation, as he is not quite ready to be done working entirely.
“My hope is that the department continues to grow,” he said, recounting when he applied for his first job in law enforcement in the early 1990s, there were 103 applicants for the one position. By 2000, 40-50 applicants per position was normal, and the numbers have continued to decline since then. While some of that can be attributed to worldview, generational shifts in work expectations, etc., Rotert said those with a servant heart who wish to make an impact will always be drawn to law enforcement.
“Yes, it’s hard, there’s shift work, it doesn’t necessarily fit your metric as far as your generational standards, but every day, you’re going to have had an impact on somebody,” he said of working in law enforcement. “I had an impact every day. If you’re a person that wants to have an impact and wants to have a meaningful career, you can have it here. If you want to effect change … come in and do it.”
And Rotert is grateful he was given the opportunity to effect change for the years he has led the department, and he is proud the department has kept pace with the growth of Spearfish and contributes to the quality of life and safety its citizens enjoy.
“You’ve got to have vision with your decision-making and understand all of the things the decision you’re about to make could affect,” he said of leadership.
Rotert will retire with the following distinctions: He is the longest-serving leader of the Spearfish Police Department (the previous record holder was Police Chief A.H. “Bogie” Jefferson, who served for nearly 17 and a half years from May 12, 1930, to Nov. 3, 1947), as well as the first Spearfish Director of Public Safety.
“I am ready for the next chapter and am grateful to everyone who has supported me along the way,” he said of his retirement. “I am proud to have been part of this department and know it is in good hands going forward.”
