Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber Submits Retirement Notice

Press release from the City of Wauwatosa:

February 1, 2021

Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber submitted his retirement notice today to the Mayor and Police and Fire Commission. He has served 48 years in law enforcement, 31 of those years with the Wauwatosa Police Department as Police Chief.

During his tenure, Wauwatosa has received high rankings about the level of satisfaction with city services, including police response time to emergencies (85% satisfaction, compared to a national average of 62%) and our efforts to prevent crime (74% satisfaction, compared to a national average of 55%).

Under his leadership, our police department:

• Expanded training opportunities for sworn officers – exceeding state requirements
• Purchased and began creating a body-worn camera program with community input on policy
• Became the only police department in the Greater Milwaukee area to join “Project Lifesaver” – a program to help find loved ones with dementia when they go missing
• Evolved the dispatch center with new technology, so that dispatchers can walk callers through life-saving medical measures over the phone, such as CPR or emergency childbirth
• Helped change recruitment efforts, so that the staff in the police department is the most diverse employee group in the city

The Wauwatosa Police and Fire Commission will have a special meeting this week to formally receive his retirement notice. Under Wisconsin State Law, the hiring of a police chief is the under the sole direction of the Police and Fire Commission. In other words, the mayor and council do not have a role in this process. After the Wauwatosa Police and Fire Commission determines details of the hiring process, it will be published on Wauwatosa.net, so the public can follow the commission’s next steps.

This press release was produced by the City of Wauwatosa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.