One of Milwaukee’s top cops is calling it a career. Assistant Chief Nicole Waldner will retire from the Milwaukee Police Department after a 29-year run, with her last day set for April 18. In recent years she has led MPD’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, the unit that handles homicide, the gun-violence squad and other sensitive cases. Her exit pulls one of the department’s most senior commanders out of the lineup at a time when MPD is still grinding through reform and staffing challenges.
As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Waldner said she will step down April 18 and plans to join Advocate Health as director of public safety. Colleagues told the paper they valued her blunt, results-focused style. Heather Hough said she was "going to miss her commitment to doing things the right way," while Heather Wurth said Waldner "did it with no-holds-barred," according to the report. The move also fits a broader pattern of large health systems scooping up veteran law-enforcement leaders to run security and safety operations.
Long arc at MPD
Waldner joined MPD in 1996 and over the years worked in narcotics, homicide, internal affairs and at the police academy before moving into the command staff. The University of Virginia Center for Public Safety and Justice notes she rose through the ranks as lieutenant, captain and inspector and that she was promoted to assistant chief in 2021, then assigned to lead the Criminal Investigations Bureau in December 2023. Local coverage has also highlighted her role in training new recruits and pushing for more women in leadership inside the department, as profiled by TMJ4.
Investigations and reform work
In her latest assignment, Waldner oversaw MPD’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, where detectives handle homicides, gun-violence investigations and other high-stakes cases. At the same time, MPD has been under the microscope because of the 2018 Collins settlement, which requires the department to revise stop-and-frisk policies, upgrade training and supervision, and submit to independent monitoring, according to the city’s Fire and Police Commission reports. Department colleagues told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Waldner helped oversee compliance with that agreement, combining investigative command with policy work as MPD pushes toward full compliance.
What comes next
Waldner is set to move to Advocate Health as director of public safety, a job that typically covers security operations, training and risk reviews across a large health system. A current Advocate Aurora posting for a director of public safety in Milwaukee lists responsibilities such as directing security operations, conducting risk assessments and coordinating training across multiple hospital campuses, offering a preview of the kind of role she is expected to step into. Waldner said the change will let her bring decades of investigative and leadership experience into a new environment.
Her retirement is likely to reshuffle MPD’s upper ranks at a sensitive time for both crime-fighting and reform in Milwaukee. With her final day on April 18, the department will have to choose a new leader for its investigations bureau and someone to help steer the ongoing compliance work. Colleagues say she leaves behind a reputation for insisting that systems change when they are not working.
