Wells, U of M instructor, leaves a lasting legacy
A leader. A trailblazer. A legend.
As Milwaukee mourns the loss of Lenard “Lenny” Wells, those words have come up over and over. Wells, 69, died Saturday from complications of COVID-19. He spent 27 years on the Milwaukee Police Department and was has taught ciminal justice at the University of Memphis since 2013.
After his police retirement, thengov. Jim Doyle appointed Wells chairman of the Wisconsin Parole Commission.
“Lenny Wells is a legend,” said Andra Williams, a retired Milwaukee police captain. “He was there as a mentor, as a leader, and his legacy goes on through today.”
Wells, an instructor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice since 2013 at the University of Memphis, was “an insightful instructor, a researcher and a supportive colleague in the department,” department chairman KB Turner wrote in a letter alerting faculty.
“During his tenure at the University of Memphis as an instructor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Dr. Wells touched the lives of many students,” Turner wrote.
“He was well known for his compassion and dedication to the impartation of knowledge and providing guidance to his students regarding their future careers and life.”
Turner added: “His untimely passing will leave an indelible void for some time to come. He will be sorely missed by his family, students and colleagues.”
Rising through the ranks
“Lenny Wells is a legend. He was there as a mentor, as a leader, and his legacy goes on through today.”
Wells’ career began in May 1973 when he was part of the first recruit class under a federally mandated affirmative action program.
Nine other minorities, including a woman, were among the 65 people in his class — breaking racial and gender barriers at Milwaukee Police Department, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2001.
“He was one of those who really accepted the call to be more community-focused,” said James Harpole, who worked for Wells in the old District 6.
“He didn’t want us to be an occupation force,” said Harpole, who retired from MPD as an assistant chief several years ago. “He wanted us to be guardians, not warriors, and though those weren’t the popular terms then, that’s the philosophy he embraced.”
The Milwaukee Police Department released a statement Monday calling Wells “a law enforcement pioneer.”
“He was a mentor to many members in our agency and our community and he will be greatly missed,” the department said.
“The Police Department definitely needed a lot more Lenny Wells,” said Sgt. Troy Johnson, current president of the League of Martin, an association for African American officers. “He meant a lot to us.”
The parole board, then a teaching career
After he retired from the force, Wells was appointed chairman of the Wisconsin State Parole Board in 2003.
“The cop in me says that the correctional facilities were made for some people. They fit,” he told the Journal Sentinel then. “But the idealist in me says that there are a lot of people who are taking up bed space in jail that belongs to someone else. Those people can be helped.”
Wells, who had obtained his doctorate in Leadership, Learning and Service from Cardinal Stritch University, became director of two satellite campuses of Concordia University Wisconsin.
In 2013, he began teaching criminal justice at the University of Memphis where he became a favorite of students for his engaging style. Emily Hart, a senior who will graduate this spring, took all six classes he taught.
She remembered the first presentation she gave in his class. She had nerves, but made it through the end. Afterward, Wells pulled her aside to say how proud he was of her.
“He remembered every student by name. Old students would come back to catch up with him,” Hart said. “He was really loved.”
Hart said she met with Wells last month to discuss her plans to pursue her master’s degree. He wanted her to be a graduate assistant in his class, she said.
She plans to focus on restorative justice and re-entry efforts.
Wells’ legacy will live on, through Hart and other students at the University of Memphis; current and former officers at the Milwaukee Police Department; and the many other lives he touched.
“He was a great man,” said Assistant Milwaukee Police Chief Regina Howard. “He did a lot for many of us and didn’t ask for anything in return, other than we pay it forward, and that’s something many of us try to do every single day.”
Contact Ashley Luthern atashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.