Bernhardt calls it a career

By Neil Fater

It was Christmas Day 1998, and new detective Charlie Heseltine had resigned himself to celebrating a joyless holiday at the station.

Then, in walked Santa Claus, in the disguise of his boss, Det. Sgt. John Bernhardt.

Det. Sgt. John Bernhardt

"He came in and released me Christmas Day, so I could have dinner with my mother, at the nursing home," says Heseltine. "He came in on his own time, at no cost to the town. That's the type of guy he is. I don't know too many guys who would do that.

"He didn't act like a supervisor. He acted like your friend. But when business needed to be done, you did it," says Heseltine. "No questions asked."

Perhaps that's why about 35 officers showed up Tuesday morning to wish John Bernhardt a happy retirement. That was the veteran officer's last shift.

And those who knew Bernhardt best say he wasn't just a friend to fellow officers. Henry "Hank" Picard, Bernhardt's partner in detectives for eight years, says Bernhardt was known to lend a helping hand to those down on their luck.

"He's been befriended by the people who were down and out, by politicians and judges. They all know him," says Picard.

That type of popularity often helped crack cases, he says.

"He had a keen memory for names and faces. There was no place you could go where he didn't have a contact," says Picard. "That's what I remember, just his knack for getting in to talk to people."

But Bernhardt didn't just know others, he knew himself. So he says he had little difficulty deciding it was time to retire.

"Everybody said to me, 'You'll know when it's time,'" says Bernhardt. "I woke up on Feb. 6, when I turned 60, and I said to me wife (Louise), 'It's time to go.'"

The head of Andover's detective division has built a house near Hampton Beach, close enough for his grandkids to visit. He knows how he wants to spend his retirement.

"Playing with my grandkids," he says. "You don't have time on this job, especially when you first come on, to spend with your family. I missed a lot. Now, I'll relive my life through my grandchildren (Caleigh, 6, and Ryan, 4)."

That answer won't surprise Bernhardt's fellow detectives.

"He always said, 'Your family comes first' -- that this job should never come between you and your family," says Heseltine. "The perfect example of that last year was Christmas Day, when I had to work."

Career

Bernhardt came to Andover from Lawrence on April 22, 1970. He cracked cases as a detective from 1973 to 1986, before making sergeant and joining the midnight shift. From about 1988 to 1998 he was assigned to work as Andover's liaison to the prosecutor's office.

New Police Chief Brian Pattullo named him head of the detective's division when he was selected as chief last year.

"John's had a very productive career with the police department. He stepped into a very difficult position for me," says Pattullo.

"Sometimes detectives divisions have a tendency to be almost a separate department," he says. "I wanted to make sure our detective division ran in an inclusive way with the rest of the department, and he has been successful in doing that.

"He will certainly be missed," says Pattullo. "I think John is the epitome of what an officer should be. He has the honesty and integrity that every officer should."

Officers say Bernhardt never had a problem speaking his mind, even if he espoused an unpopular opinion.

"John's a very honest person. There've been times we've had our disagreements," says Pattullo. "But we got on with our jobs, and that's the sign of a good supervisor."

"I've had the greatest job in the world and I've worked with the greatest people in the world. This department is the best of the best as far as I'm concerned," says Bernhardt. "I would match these guys with anybody, anywhere, anytime."

Bernhardt says "the only thing that will hurt" about retirement is not seeing the people with whom he's worked during the years.

What won't he miss?

"I've thought more about what I will miss than what I won't miss," he says, thinking.

"I guess I won't miss getting up (at crazy hours)," he laughs.

Especially come Christmas morning.

A Bernhardt Retrospective

In his three decades as an Andover cop, retiring Det. Sgt. John Bernhardt saw his share of change.

But there is one that stands out from the rest.

"It's no longer a town -- that's the big change. When I came in here 30 years ago, you'd go past West Parish and it was all farms," he says. "You had a partner in the cruiser back then, and all you'd see were tomatoes and people picking tomatoes."

Now, there are acres of homes and businesses, he says.

But while some residents complain the town didn't plan ahead for the traffic growth that resulted, Bernhardt disagrees.

Known for being outspoken, Bernhardt says newcomers shouldn't complain about the existence of businesses.

"It's like moving next to a dump and saying, 'Close the dump,'" he says. "They're blaming the town. They should be blaming the state. The state's made so many promises (to improve area roads and highways) and they haven't come through."

As for the changes in crime, Bernhardt says computer-related crime is clearly on the rise and will be an even larger problem in the future. Three or four Andover people have been involved during the last year in cases where someone used computers to try to solicit sex from a minor, he says.

"It's the Internet," says Bernhardt. "We saw a big increase in this town in the past one-and-a-half to two years. They're just preying on these young kids. Where does it stop?

"I really believe within five years, they'll have someone assigned just to this."

Don Pattullo, new leader

Of course, there have been some constants through the years, and one of those was his relationship with the Pattullo police family.

When Bernhardt began his Andover career he worked under Lt. Hector Pattullo. At the end, he worked for new Police Chief Brian Pattullo, Hector's son.

Plus, with his retirement this week, Bernhardt handed the reins of the detective's division to Hector's other son, new Det. Sgt. Don Pattullo.

"Working here is like going to church. I've worked for the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost," jokes Bernhardt. "The townspeople are going to be the luckiest people in the world because (Don Pattullo) is a great investigator."

Don Pattullo was picked to lead the detective's division by Lt. Richard Enos, the town manager and a lieutenant colonel from the state police, says Chief Pattullo, who excused himself from the selection process because of the conflict of interest.