Manitowoc’s current police chief is now in his final week before retirement.
Chief Nick Reimer spoke with Seehafernews.com about his upcoming retirement from his career in law enforcement.
Reimer was born and raised in Manitowoc and graduated from Roncalli High School.
When he was a freshman, he explained that he attended a job fair, and something about the Manitowoc Police table spoke to him.
“Ever since then, I was focused on being a police officer,” he explained. “I don’t know if it was a calling necessarily, I think it was. But whatever it was, I was focused on that.”
Reimer would go on to be a reserve deputy with the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office.
Then, at age 22, he was hired as a patrol officer with the Manitowoc Police Department.
He also graduated from the Criminal Justice program at UW-Eau Claire.
Reimer explained that he started on second shift before working on third shift. After 6.5 years, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
“After being a sergeant for a short time, I was promoted to lieutenant after about a year or two, I think it only was,” he described. “We restructured and eventually (I) became a captain.”
He would then apply to become the deputy chief of police before another transition to assistant chief.
In 2016, he was promoted to Chief of Police.
Reimers says he feels excellent in his journey, starting as a patrol officer and working his way up.
He stated he, “Wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It doesn’t always work out that way for people. Sometimes, people either don’t want to go to their hometown or they just weren’t hired at the time, and you end up in another place, and you kind of create roots there. But, for me, it worked out perfectly.”
Reimer says he also feels excellent about how the department is now, as he prepares to end his career.
He’s also very optimistic about the city’s future and its leaders.
That includes the next person to take over for him, current Assistant Police Chief John Musial.
“John is an excellent leader,” Reimer stated. “People trust him. He has the highest degree of integrity, and he makes good decisions. That’s really what it takes. Being a police chief, obviously, you have to have integrity, you have to be a good leader if people want to trust you and follow you.”
Reimer hopes that in the future, the Manitowoc Police Department will take over the entire Public Safety Building with everything they have.
He said he wants to keep seeing what the department does every day, which, in his words, is keeping the major crime trend going down in the city.
During his retirement, Remier stated he’s ready to no longer have to worry about issues affecting the city as he does now.
He noted, “Having to think about a decision that I’m going to have to make, it’s important that I make the right decision. So, I think that adds stress to yourself. And I look forward to having a good night’s rest where I don’t have to worry about all the things.”
Reimer’s last day is on Saturday (March 21st), and Musial will take over the day after.
