MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ) – Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is on the verge of replacing Police Chief Alfonso Morales with Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith.
That’s according to multiple sources and revealed today on WISN radio.
“I have no idea where this rumor got started, maybe it is wishful thinking on some people’s part,” Smith said Monday.
Morales, whose contract expires in January, has not been offered an extension and is actively preparing to leave the job at the end of this year.
Smith has been Green Bay’s police chief since early 2016 and before that served 27 years with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Sources also reporting to the Milwaukee radio station that Smith was in Milwaukee last week touring Milwaukee Police Department facilities and meeting with assorted personnel.
“I did go visit Milwaukee this past week and went to the Art Museum and the Lakeshore Brewery, but did not have any interactions with anyone from the city or the police department and did not go visit the police department,” Smith said.
He says he does not know how the rumor started.
“Next thing I know, I have applied for a job down there, totally not true. I have no intention of applying for it. As far as I know, they still have a Chief there that is doing a great job.”
Chief Smith says the process of hiring a Chief in a city the size of Milwaukee would likely include a nation-wide search and a long process that he says he has not been part of.
“I am not going to be part of that process if there ever is a process like that,” Smith said. “I have not applied and don’t plan on applying.”
According to Smith, it has not even been a topic of conversation and was all news to him.
“I have never spoken to the Mayor of Milwaukee and have never had any email conversation with him or anything like that. The part of the rumor is false.”
In a statement on the Green Bay Police Facebook Page, Chief Smith tries to put the rumor to rest:
From Chief Smith:
Despite recent news reports and unfounded rumors, I have neither applied for the Chief of Police position in Milwaukee nor spoken to any officials in Milwaukee. I have great respect for Milwaukee Police Chief Al Morales. The rumors of me applying or being considered for the Chief of Police in Milwaukee are completely false.
This is nothing more than a fabricated and unfounded rumor. I have never toured the police HQ in Milwaukee and never met with the Mayor. My family and I love being here in Green Bay. I am proud to be the Chief here in Green Bay and have no plans to leave.
Chief Andrew Smith
