New chief vows to be as accessible as possible
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
New Brick Township Police Chief Nils R. Bergquist was still moving into his new office last Friday. And there wasn't much on his desk - yet.

CHRIS KELLY staff New Police Chief Nils R. Bergquist (l) goes over some numbers with Lt. Craig Lash at headquarters Friday.

An edible bouquet gift basket from the Brick Rotary Club. A picture of his newborn grandson, Brayden Acropolis, was prominently displayed.

"He's my first," Berquist said with a smile.

One thing that hasn't changed is the police chief talisman that former longtime Police Chief Ronald J. Dougard handed over to Bergquist at the New Year's Day organization meeting.

A resin figure of a stern Indian chieftain with his arms folded across his chest sits on a cabinet. "I'm the Chief," reads a small plaque on the bottom of the piece.

"It hasn't really set in yet, but it feels good," said Bergquist, 51. "I couldn't ask for a better police department."

He has been a police officer for 30 years. He did a five-month stint in the Seaside Heights police department in 1977, then moved on to Ocean Gate, where he served from February 1978 to December 1980. He was sworn in as a Brick Township patrolman in December 1980.

Capt. Douglas Kinney

Bergquist was one of two Brick police captains eligible for the chief 's position. Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said he preferred filling retiring Police Chief Ronald J. Dougard's position with a captain.

What's his answer to those who might say his ties to the Acropolis family helped get him his job? Bergquist's daughter, Tiffany, is married to the mayor's son, Robert.

"I would certainly hope I got the job based on my ability, experience and seniority, and there is no reason to believe that is not the case," he said. "We weren't notified of the selection until less than 24 hours before the promotion ceremony."

The other eligible police captain was Douglas J. Kinney. The two have worked well in the past, and Bergquist doesn't expect that to change.

"Doug is probably one of the best police officers, supervisors and managers to ever come through this police department," he said.

Bergquist will spend the next several months trying to figure out how to run a large police department with a state budget cap on expenditures.

"That's all I've been dealing with since Jan. 1," he said. "I'm kind of coming in the middle. It's going to be a lot of work, especially with the

budget caps.

Everything has gotten more expensive. The price of fuel is going up."

The Brick police department roster stood at 128 officers his first week on the job.

"We certainly could use more people, but I don't think there is a police department in the state that doesn't need more people," Bergquist said.

Police work has gotten more complex, since he started as an officer in the late 1970s. The state has mandated more training, but has decreased funding at the same time, he said.

"It's all good stuff, but it eats up your human resources," the chief said. "We keep getting more and more demands. The next two or three years are going to be very tough."

Bergquist went to Louisiana in September 2005 as part of the Ocean County Strike Team Louisiana Relief Effort for Hurricane Katrina.

What was it like?

"Long, hot and dirty would be the best way to describe it," he said. "I went down with all top-shelf people."

He slept in a gymnasium for a week with 250 other people.

"You had to sleep with headphones," he said.

He also served on the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) and became commander of the unit in February 2007.

Bergquist started his Brick police career in the patrol division. He has served as the supervisor of the drug enforcement unit, and as division commander of the professional standards unit, administrative services division, operations division and investigations division before he became chief.

Bergquist is grateful for the "symbiotic relationship" between Brick residents and the police department.

"We get a lot of support from people in town that a lot of police departments don't enjoy," he said.

Bergquist plans to be as accessible to the public as possible.

"My door is going to be open to anyone and I think that's important. If we don't know what they are thinking, we are not going to provide quality service."

He plans to stay on the job "at least a couple of years," Bergquist said.

"I like the job so far," he joked. "For 30 years I've been going to work, and I still enjoy coming in."

"I like to be hands-on, but I like to let the people charged with doing tasks do the tasks," he said. "We have some really good talent here, and it makes part of the job easier."

Bergquist lives in Brick with his wife Donna - "who has put up with police work for 30 years," he said.

They have two grown children, Tiffany and Douglas.