Before Retirement, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Reflects on Career
After about a year-and-a-half as Brooklyn Center police chief, Kellace McDaniel officially retires on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
He told CCX News that after 25 years in law enforcement, he’s starting to feel his age.
“Turning 57 — the profession can wear on you,” McDaniel said. “I don’t realize that I’m not young anymore.”
He says now is the right time to retire.
“[I] want to ride off into the sunset, so to speak,” he said.
McDaniel started on the job during a difficult chapter in Brooklyn Center’s history. The city was still reeling from the April 2021 police shooting of Daunte Wright and the civil unrest that followed.
Despite the challenges, McDaniel said he’s enjoyed his job.
“For me, it’s been a pretty good year-and-a-half,” he said. “Obviously, being the chief, you have your ups and downs. You have to make some pretty serious decisions.”
During his tenure, he made it a top priority to rebuild the police department after many veteran officers quit or retired.
“That was one of my ultimate goals, to make sure that we’re fully staffed,” McDaniel said. “I’ve sworn in pretty close to 18 officers that are still on the force today. So that’s a compliment of the department and I think that’s a compliment of myself also.”
But even as he helped cops start their careers in Brooklyn Center, he began to talk about his own future.
After about a year-and-a-half as Brooklyn Center Police Chief, Kellace McDaniel retires on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
“It’s funny because you talk to other people that retire in law enforcement, and you know, they say you’ll know when it’s time to retire,” McDaniel said.
He knew his time to retire had come while he was on a vacation out West.
“I didn’t get one call driving all the way to Montana from work,” he said. “And I didn’t get one call driving back. And that’s when I knew, silence is okay, right?”
However, the political situation is far from silent in Brooklyn Center. The city council recently rejected a police reform proposal, and protests followed.
“There’s a lot going on in law enforcement, you know, a lot of political things that are going on, and I just thought, you know, do I want the politics or do I want family, and so it’s a lot easier with family,” McDaniel said. “When I’m around the grandkids I’m just smiling, right? They’re the apple of my eye.”
As he moves on to retirement, McDaniel says he’s leaving the department in a good place.
“As long as the people in that building are moral, ethical and professional, good things will happen,” he said.
With McDaniel’s departure, Brooklyn Center police Cmdr. Tony Gruenig will take over as interim chief in February. It’s Gruenig’s second time in the interim police chief role.
