(La Porte, IN) - Paul Brettin planned to retire from law enforcement four years ago, but stayed on when asked to serve as chief of police in LaPorte.

 

Now, though, he’ll be taking off his badge for good after living up to a promise he made to Mayor Tom Dermody during his first term in office regarding the position.

 

Brettin is ending his career where it started nearly 30 years ago as a civilian desk clerk, before going on on to hold almost every position at the department, including chief of detectives, midnight shift commander, and member of the street crimes task force.

 

Brettin said finally deciding to retire was still difficult, even though it was in the making before Dermody chose him to lead a revamping of the once depleted force.

 

“I think I did the changes I wanted to do. Everybody gets to that point in their career that you start to think, you know what? Let the young guys take this over. It was time,” he said.

 

Applications for the position will be accepted through January 12th and the new police chief announced on February 5th.

 

Dermody said whoever is the next chief will have some big shoes to fill.

 

“Under his watch, we have cracked down on drug traffickers and violent offenders, expanded our use of modern technologies, and have made it clear that we are a law-and-order community,” Dermody said.

 

Brettin will remain with the department until May 23rd to offer support and guidance to his replacement.

 

Under Brettin, the department restored its number of officers to more than 40 after manpower dropped to below 30.

 

Brettin said money, built up by the countywide public safety income tax adopted in 2022, provided the city with money to increase salaries enough to help attract more officers to the department.

 

Per Dermody, his other accomplishments include more patrols with utility task vehicles and bicycles powered by electronic motors, the prioritization of mental health by hiring the city’s first-ever Public Safety Social Worker, and increased use of modern technology such as drones, FLOCK license plate readers, and wireless parking enforcement.

 

Brettin also created new units like the Emergency Response Team and Proactive Crime Team.

 

The soon-to-be former chief of police said he’s most proud of the quality of the officers assembled during his tenure.

 

“We have amazing officers on the department. These officers are dedicated, every single one of them,” he said.   

 

Brettin said he’s also equally proud of the modern crime-fighting technology added to solve crimes and other matters more quickly. 

 

What he’ll miss most about law enforcement is the camaraderie he enjoys with his fellow police officers.

 

“I think there’s a brotherhood, sisterhood there that most people don’t understand. We see the worst life has to offer and we also see the best but we see more of the negatives. We lean on each other a lot,” he said.

 

Brettin said he plans to keep working but it’ll be somewhere outside of law enforcement and spend more time with his family.

 

“It truly has been an honor to serve this community. Though it was a difficult decision, I am comforted by the fact that I leave behind a team of strong, well-trained, professional officers who always give 100 percent,” he said.