06/25/2020
Wildcats’ all-time scoring leader is rookie cop in Willmar
By Bruce Strand
Sports Reporter
Taylor Thunstedt was about halfway through her prodigious career at New London-Spicer when she decided what she wanted to do after basketball was done.
“I really started to get serious and realize I wanted to be a police officer when I was a sophomore in high school,” said Thunstedt.
She discussed law enforcement at length with a cousin who’s a deputy in Stearns County. Another career she considered was opening a multi-purpose gym, but she knew she “would have regretted” not becoming a police officer.
Thunstedt, 24, joined the Willmar Police Department last August 19.
“We are happy to have her,” said Jim Felt, police chief. “We like it when local people take an interest in police work and want to take the training and serve with us. Taylor is a hard worker and she is good at talking with people. She has a lot of contact with youth in our area, and she is a good role model and mentor.”
Asked her impressions after 10 months on the job, she said:
“I love the unknown day to day, not really knowing what’s going to happen next. Aside from that, I wanted to be a role model in the community and have a positive impact on people.”
The job has a wide variety of duties, she said, “but a few of the bigger ones are patrolling the streets, responding to calls and community interaction.”
Thunstedt, 5-8 and 142 pounds, is probably one of the more athletic members of the WPD.
The 2014 graduate holds NLS records of 2,766 career points, a 50-point game, and a 29-point average as a senior. She also played volleyball and softball.
She was a three-year starter at North Dakota State, scoring 1,395 points, including 17 per game as a sophomore and 14.5 as a junior. She set a Bison record with 278 three-pointers.
Thunstedt majored in sports management and minored in business at NDSU. Her original plan was to major in criminal justice but she couldn’t work out the classes with her basketball schedule.
She resumed her career path to police work after NSDU, attending the law enforcement course at Ridgewater College. With much of the coursework already done, she was able to finish in two semesters. She followed that with an eight-week skills program at Alexandria Technical College.
Asked if her athletic background helps with her current occupation, she said: “I would like to think so, yes. It has taught me to have a go-getter mentality. Also, being in law enforcement is like being on a sports team. Everyone works together and has another’s back, which is very important in this career. Our department has great brother- and sister-hood, which makes it a great place to work.”
