CHARLES CRANE/MDN Minot Police Capt. Shawn Wegner, left, will be sworn in at City Hall Wednesday May 27 as he replaces retiring Capt. Jason Sundbakken, right.

Minot Police Capt. Jason Sundbakken’s career at the police department began as dispatcher on July 8, 1996, and will come to close just 25 days shy of 30 years later with the recent announcement of his impending retirement as administrative commander.

“I started as a police officer in ’97 and just worked my way through various places in the department and ranks from there,” Sundbakken said. “It was just time. After 30 years, it is just a long time in this career, and it’s time for a new chapter.”

In the meantime, Sundbakken has been sharing his desk with his successor, Lt. Shawn Wegner, who will be sworn in as Support commander at a ceremony in City Hall at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27.

Wegner joined the Minot Police Department after serving active duty in the Air Force, calling it, “a seamless transition.” Wegner spent another 16 years in the Air Force Reserves, followed by nine years in the Air National Guard, ending his career in December 2025 after 31 years.

Sundbakken reflected that while the department and the Minot community has experienced many changes and challenges over the years, Minot remains a great place to live in and serve.

“When I first started here, the far end of the building was dispatch, this was the police department, the middle was City Hall, and the other far end was the fire department. All of them have since moved on and found new digs, and we’re still here,” Sundbakken said. “Our uniforms were different. We didn’t have all the tools they have now. We didn’t have computers in cars. We didn’t have tasers. We had to check out radios. There was just a lot of tools and technology the officers in our department have now that we didn’t have back then. Those things are invaluable.”

Wegner concurred, noting at one time only certain cars were equipped with camera systems, all of which were different from the other.

“When I took over the streamlining of the car camera and radar systems, the big thing was making them all uniform. That took a little bit of time, but now all of our cars have the same equipment in them,” Wegner said. “When you’re under stress, you don’t need to be looking for the right equipment. It should just be muscle memory.”

Wegner conceded he was looking forward to things calming down a bit as the department’s officers complete the baton passes of the transition process. That said, Wegner was confident they’d be able to thread the needle and find solid ground before long despite the many hats required of the Support commander.

“The thing about this particular position compared to the other captain of the deputy chief, this position is a bunch of things that aren’t necessarily related. You’re overseeing outreach, evidence and records. You’re overseeing the administration of all of the equipment and training. None of those things necessarily coincide with each other,” Sundbakken said.

Wegner explained the department’s realignment will slide investigations under the support wing of the department, in contrast to the operations side, which includes patrol and other general police business.

“Anything else within the department is what falls under this position, so we take command of all this and make sure they have everything they need to get their jobs done,” Wegner said.