A crowd of community members turned out at Petersburg’s Sandy Beach on Friday, May 1, to celebrate the retirement of Sergeant Derek Thorsen. Over a meal of hot dogs and cake, friends, colleagues, and family shared the impact of Thorsen’s nearly 25 years as a police officer in town.
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Again and again, community members mentioned Thorsen’s levelheadedness and his ability to de-escalate tense moments.
“He’s able to take the stress out of a situation,” said his aunt, Lanore Rodenberg. “I just admire him so much for that.”
There was also a lot of cake, and Petersburg Police Chief James Kerr said that was for good reason.
“Anytime one of us would mess up, or if we did something, Derek would always say, you owe yellow cake and chocolate frosting,” Kerr said. “So it became kind of a tradition.”
Kerr brought four cakes for four apologies: one for the Facebook post announcing his retirement, one for a story in the local paper, one for a story in KFSK, and one for any future stories that mentioned him.
Thorsen said the turnout for his retirement was “surreal.”
“To have so many people appreciate what I’ve done over the years, it’s humbling,” he said.
Thorsen said he plans to take it easy during his retirement.
