Police officer who's worked 60 years not retiring yet

MILWAUKEE -- More than 50 years after saving his partner's life, 86-year-old police Lt. Andrew Anewenter is still on the job -- and he still gets teary-eyed when recalling that day.

Anewenter said he and his partner were taking two "desperadoes" to the station, when one grabbed the other officer's gun, put it to his stomach and told them they both were going to die.

Anewenter shot the gunman once in the head, killing him. His partner, was not injured.

"My partner was so grateful that for six months after that he picked me up at my home for work," Anewenter said of Norman Duemling, who died in 1957.

Anewenter is one of the oldest active police officers in the country and recently celebrated his 60th year at the Milwaukee Police Department.

The great-grandfather holds the record for longest service in the department and has no immediate plans to retire.

"I stuck around because I like the profession and the people I work with," he said recently, neatly clad in a navy sport coat and red tie.

"I don't consider myself an old man. I fit in with the so-called youth of the profession," Anewenter said, adding that he does the same work as some other officers.

Former chiropractor

Anewenter started with the department June 1, 1942 -- when the current chief was only 3 years old -- after going to chiropractic school and trying his hand at sales and physical therapy.

"Andy," as many call him, has worked every shift, walked the beat, patrolled the city and investigated murders, assaults, thefts, counterfeiting, drugs and a plane crash. He's also done security for celebrities, including Elvis Presley, presidents and foreign dignitaries.

Anewenter, a slim man with a gray mustache and an almost bald head, still works nine hours a day and is in his 10th year as one of the heads of the property crimes division. He has been a supervisor for 53 years.

He may have problems remembering the exact year of some events, but he recalls the names of those he worked with 50 years ago and details of decades-old busts.

He tells of shooting out street lights in the 1960s to protect officers from criminals shooting at them, resisting demands of Presley's managers for extra security and witnessing three officers die.

A few things have changed along the way, like technology -- but not the criminal mind, Anewenter said.

"Crime doesn't change. Crime is crime. A thief is a thief. A robber is a robber," he said. "The only thing today is they are more dangerous," he added, attributing that to drugs.

He has worked under seven police chiefs and six mayors.

Anewenter is among the oldest -- if not the oldest -- police officer in the country, said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, a police labor organization with 300,000 members nationwide.

No mandatory retirement

Pasco said it's not known how many departments have mandatory retirement ages because there is no central repository, but he suspects many do because physical ability diminishes with age and unions have pushed for it.

Federal law enforcement requires officers to retire at 57, Pasco said.

Milwaukee doesn't have a mandatory retirement age, said Deputy Chief Leslie Barber. But Anewenter is the only officer older than 65 on the city's police force.

Stress often causes police to retire by age 50, Pasco said.

Anewenter said his positive attitude, daily walks or swims and family help him cope with the pressures of work.

"Yes, there's stress but I am kind of a determined guy and I feel it's part of the job," he said.

Officers frequently ask Anewenter for advice, including Barber. "Andy is a wealth of knowledge," said the deputy chief.

And a celebrity, of sorts.

When President Bush visited Milwaukee last May, he congratulated Anewenter on his years of service. A photo of the two, along with a letter from Bush, hangs prominently in Anewenter's office.

Arson Detective James Kraft, 48, who has worked under Anewenter for about four years, said he is amazed by his energy.

"He really does seem to like the job," Kraft said. "He's very seldom in a bad mood."

At age 86, Anewenter hasn't ruled out a second career.

"You'll never know what I'll do. If the right thing comes along, one can make a change. My wife says you'll retire but you might retire to something else."