For a man who has just been given responsibility for almost 200 employees, and for the safety of almost 20,000 airport workers and 33 million passengers annually - not to mention all those people picking up and dropping off travelers at the terminals - Interim Police Chief Merlin Tolsma seems quite relaxed dressed in his dark blue uniform, sitting across from me in his new office.
But I shouldn't have expected anything different. With 29 years of police work – 22 of them at MSP - and experience backing him up, Merlin is more than qualified for this new role.
When asked what initiatives he wants to concentrate his efforts on, Merlin quickly responds that he’s passionate about completing the evacuation and shelter-in-place program at MSP. (This program establishes procedures for ensuring the safety of MSP's customers and employees during emergencies when either an evacuation needs to take place or when conditions are such that people need to be kept inside.)
Similarly, he is excited about fully participating in the Airport Community Emergency Response Program being led by the fire department's Brenda Kremer. This program will train a group of airport workers on how to assist customers during times of emergencies.
But possibly most impactful will be Merlin’s plans to reorganize the department to meet both current and future public safety challenges, such as the sudden increase in security directives and regulations after 9/11.
“We need to ensure the department is aligned most efficiently to respond best to the unknown,” says Merlin. “That means ensuring chain-of-command efficiencies are in place and that personnel are cross-trained in the many disciplines of public safety (security, patrol, investigations, etc.).
Born and raised in South Dakota, Merlin is a die-hard Vikings and Twins fan, something he jokingly blames on his father.
After marrying his high school sweetheart, Cindy, and 6 and a half years as a state trooper in South Dakota, Merlin, Cindy and his three daughters moved to Minnesota in 1991 where he took a job with the airport police.
His stint at MAC began as a police officer but only two years later he was promoted to patrol sergeant. In 2001 he was promoted to administrative commander and then to deputy police chief in 2006.
Grandfather to 9 (he is known as Pappy to them), Merlin spends many of his off-work hours on home improvement projects, such as the screened-in porch project he recently completed. He also enjoys reading crime novels by authors such as Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy.
Merlin is also a graduate of the of the Southern Police Institute’s Administrative Officers Course at the University of Louisville.
Please congratulate Merlin the next time you see him!
A feature article by Melissa Scovronski
