Milwaukee Police Chief Philip Arreola
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Philip Arreola was the first Latino Police Chief in Milwaukee history. He was named to the position in 1989, succeeding Robert Ziarnik. He had previously served in the Detroit and Port Huron (MI) police departments.
Arreola has a Law degree from Wayne State University and had a reputation as a thinker and intellectual. He had a famously contentious relationship with the rank and file, who regarded him an "outsider." He was the first chief hired to the position from outside Milwaukee.
He is likely best remembered as the presiding police chief when the Jeffrey Dahmer case broke. His controversial firing of two officers who had interacted with Dahmer prior to the discovery of his crimes further distanced Arreola from his subordinates.
Arreola left Milwaukee in 1996 to become the chief of the Tacoma (WA) Police Department. He is now the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service in Denver, CO. He still returns to Milwaukee every year to attend the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce banquet dedicated to raising funds for a scholarship in his name.
Thanks for continuing to contribute to our community, Chief Arreola!
Sources:
Rogers Worthington, "Police Chief Under Fire", Chicago Tribune, September 26, 1991.
Georgia Pabst, "El Jefe Returns", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, January 26, 2009.