Milwaukee Police Chief Nannette Hegerty, who saw crime dip and then spike while she tried to modernize the department and deal with law-breaking officers, will retire in November at the end of her four-year term, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The city’s 19th chief and the first woman in the job, she will be the first to leave on her own terms since Harold Breier retired in 1984 after the state curbed his power and the job changed from a lifetime appointment to a limited term.
Hegerty will be 57, and eligible for city retirement, on her projected last day in office, Nov. 16. Experts said Hegerty’s term is longer than average; a typical big city chief lasts just three years. “Chiefs are being held accountable for crime in a city and are responsible to politicians and to the constituents,” said Mike Wagers of the Police Institute at Rutgers University. “They are serving in demanding, stressful jobs.” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett termed Hegerty, appointed before his term as mayor began, “a class act.”