Norman on fast track for police chief slot
Acting Milwaukee leader to be sole applicant
Nearly a year after the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission passed on Jeffrey Norman as the city’s next permanent police chief, it is now giving him a virtual lock on the job.
The commission voted 6-0 Thursday to invite Norman to apply as the sole applicant for the position, coming about nine months after he became the city’s second acting chief following the ouster of Alfonso Morales.
Commissioner Fred Crouther was absent from Thursday’s vote.
The Milwaukee Police Department issued a statement Friday saying, in part, that Norman “appreciates the opportunity and is excited to participate in the process to become the permanent chief of the Milwaukee Police Department.”
Norman is a Milwaukee native and 25-year veteran of the department. He served as the commander of District Three, which covers Milwaukee’s west side, until his promotion to assistant chief in August 2020 and acting chief late the following December.
Since taking over the chief’s office, Norman has earned the respect of both key city officials and community members after prioritizing community relations at a time when both the city
and the country have been going through a racial reckoning in large part fueled by police treatment of people of color.
Cavalier Johnson, the president of the Common Council, applauded the commission’s move Friday.
“I believe as chief of the Milwaukee Police Department, Jeffrey Norman can produce the leadership, stability and vision needed to improve our community, and I hope we see him in that role in the near future,” Johnson said.
In a press release Friday, the commission specified that Norman will participate in two public meetings where he can field questions from the public over the next two months.
In October, he is expected to interview with the commission and present his vision for leading the department. It is not clear if that interview will be conducted publicly or privately.
A vote on appointing Norman as permanent chief will come in November.
The commission declined to specify whether Norman would be applying for a four-year term or the remainder of Morales’ term, which is set to expire in early January 2024.
Two commissioners – Vice Chair Everett Cocroft and Joan Kessler – pushed for a four-year term, arguing it offered leadership stability for a department that went through extraordinary uncertainty over the last year.
Cocroft also suggested it would be disrespectful not to specify a term up front after Norman stepped into the job last winter.
But Edward Fallone, the chair of the commission, argued they should keep their options open for the time being.
“We can reserve that discretion... see whether the acting chief knocks our socks off or whether we have any reservations,” Fallone said. “I think that’s something we should wait for the interview process to show us.”
Thursday’s decision wasn’t much of a surprise, but it marks a remarkable turnaround for the commission, which passed up Norman’s candidacy last year and then almost saw him walk away from the city of Milwaukee entirely.
After Morales’ departure last year, Norman was the only internal candidate among six initial finalists – a surprise for a city that had been pushing for more homegrown talent after the 2018 retirement of Edward Flynn, the department’s second outside hire.
But Norman did not survive the cut to three finalists, which removed him from consideration before he had a chance to participate in interviews with the public.
Meanwhile, the commission’s chief search grounded to a halt after Morales sued the city for demoting him from chief to captain without due process. As that unfolded, Norman became acting chief in late December 2020 following the retirement of Michael Brunson Sr., who took over after Morales.
Norman immediately earned the public backing of about a half-dozen members of the Common Council, who spoke highly of his accessibility as commander of District Three and called for the commission to allow him to audition for the permanent role.
Morales’ litigation efforts were successful and they nearly resulted in him returning to work as chief, creating a wave of uncertainty as to who would lead the department permanently.
In June, Norman applied to become the chief in Wauwatosa. It was a move interpreted by other city officials as one borne out of the uncertainty in Milwaukee.
“I can’t blame the man for taking actions in the interest of himself and his family,” said Ald. Robert Bauman. “I wouldn’t want to live under this constant uncertainty that Milwaukee has created.”
But in July, the city reached a $627,000 settlement with Morales, allowing him and the city to part ways. At the press conference announcing the settlement, Mayor Tom Barrett again threw his support behind Norman.
“It is clearly up to the Fire and Police Commission to decide what the process is moving forward, which clearly has been stymied by this negotiation,” Barrett said. “And I certainly am supportive of continuing to have Acting Chief Norman as the chief of the Milwaukee Police Department. He certainly has my support.”