Brick Chief Bergquist: 'It's Been A Good Ride'

Thirty-five years after he first donned a Brick Township Police Department uniform, Rick Bergquist stepped to the microphone and bid a formal farewell to the residents of the township.

“The past couple of weeks have been a great finish to what’s been an incredibly rewarding career,” Bergquist said as the Township Council and Mayor John G. Ducey paid tribute to the police chief. “The emails and phone calls have been pretty special. It shows what I’ve said before about what a great community this is and how supportively you are of the police department.”

“I can’t thank you enough for that,” Bergquist said.

Bergquist announced his intention to retire Sept. 30 after 39 years in law enforcement. He began that career in 1977 in Seaside Heights, Ducey said, and after a stop working for the Ocean Gate Police Department joined Brick in 1980. He was promoted to chief in 2008 and has represented the township at a variety of events during that time.

At the same time, he and his wife, Donna, whom he married “the day before right before I got started as a police officer,” began raising their family in Brick. Now, as he steps away, he said, he looks forward to spending more time with her, their children and their grandchildren.

“There have been a lot of long shifts, a lot of holidays (spent working),” he said. “For the last eight years my dance card has been pretty full.”

Ducey, who presented Bergquist with a key to the city to a standing ovation from the council meeting audience -- “This is my first one,” Ducey said -- said Bergquist has been “the perfect chief to lead this town,” from his service attending Boy Scout dinners to leading the town through Superstorm Sandy.

“He was able to get us through that storm,” Ducey said, from coordinating the town’s emergency efforts to managing the 200 National Guardsmen dispatched to the township to assist in security and recovery efforts.

Council President Paul Mummolo called Bergquist “a perfect gentleman.”

“He kept us councilmembers abreast of what was going on in town,” Mummolo said. “We are going to miss you here.

“It’s been a good ride,” Bergquist said.

“I’ve enjoyed working with you every day,” he said, addressing the township’s employees. “The support you’ve given us is second to none. It makes this department the best in the area if not the state. It’s been a good team.”

James Riccio, the deputy chief who has been named as Bergquist’s successor, “is a great cop and a damn good leader,” Bergquist said.

“I’m going to miss people of this community,” he said, pausing briefly as the emotion of the moment caught up with him.

“Most of all, I’m going to miss the men and women of this department,” he said. “I want to remind all of the police officers to be safe out there.”

Ducey declared Bergquist’s last day, Monday, Nov. 30, as Chief Rick Bergquist Day in the township.

(PHOTOS: Chief Rick Bergquist with his wife, Donna, and their children and grandchildren. The Key to the City presented to Bergquist. Mayor John Ducey and Council President Paul Mummolo with Bergquist. James Riccio, right, will succeed Bergquist. Bergquist, center, with the council and officers in the police department. Credits: Karen Wall)