Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent Anthony Burrell: Serving a Diverse Community
Superintendent Anthony Burrell rose up through the ran ks of the Wisconsin State Patrol to become the first African American superintendent when Governor Tony Evers appointed him in 2019.
Part 1 of 2
By Jonathan Gramling
As I am led to the office of Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent Anthony Burrell, thoughts of a distant, abrupt person flash through my imagination. After all, Burrell runs a 630 member — including 489 troopers — statewide paramilitary organization. But as we meet, Burrell comes across and shakes my hand like we are old friends and welcomes me to sit down. While it is his responsibility to ensure that the WSP is safely hitting on all cylinders, Burrell’s demeanor also reflects his 32 year career that involves every day contact with the public. It’s not all about enforcement.
Burrell’s family reflects the history of Black America. His parents migrated from Mississippi to work in the manufacturing plants of Milwaukee, seeking opportunity where none existed in Mississippi. Eventually, his father “made it” when he got a job as a heating and air conditioning specialist for Milwaukee County out at the airport.
After graduating from Milwaukee Tech High School, Burrell was headed for a career as an accountant having supported himself through MATC working in sales at several businesses. But Juneteenth changed the direction of his life.
“I went to the Juneteenth event in Milwaukee,” Burrell said. “There was a booth for the Wisconsin State Patrol. Back in those days, it went on 3rd Street from Burleigh all the way down to North Avenue. I went there with some friends. We were walking around and there was this booth there. A young lady was in the booth from the State Patrol. I went over and casually picked up some brochures just to see what was up. She introduced herself and asked me if I ever thought about being a state trooper. I said no, but I had always wanted to be in law enforcement. That was something I thought about growing up, being a cop one day. She mentioned about coming to an open house. I went to an open house in Waukesha at one of the state patrol headquarters. There were two Black gentlemen there who were troopers. One was a sergeant. They got to talking about all of the great things and opportunities and what the career is like. It really piqued my interest knowing in the back of my mind that I would like to be in law enforcement someday.”
Burrell applied to the Milwaukee Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol. The MPD didn’t accept him, but the WSP welcomed him.
“One of the things that stuck out with me from the open house was what one of the presenters shared with the group,” Burrell said. “He said that the career is very rewarding and challenging. He expressed some of the things that he was able to do on a day-to-day basis when he was out there. You work as hard as you want. You work by yourself. ‘I go out in the rural areas of the county I work in. I enforce here and enforce there. I’m not chasing barking dogs and those sorts of things.’ I was thinking, ‘Wow.’ That really interested me too. To make a long story short, I ended up applying and getting an interview and I am here.”
Once the WSP offers you a position and you sign on, you become a state employee and are paid to go through the mandatory WSP Academy.
“I started the academy on July 2, 1990 as a cadet in Tomah at our facility there,” Burrell said. “When I graduated from the academy, there were six Blacks in the class including myself. That was the largest number of Blacks that we had in a class in the state patrol’s history. And we’ve never had that many since. We’ve had three. We’ve had two. We’ve had one, but never that many in one class. We were very fortunate that all six graduated. We slowly began losing them over the years afterwards. I am the last one standing. I am pretty blessed. I worked hard my entire career and worked my way up the ranks from trooper.”
Over the next 29 years, Burrell worked in just about every region of Wisconsin and rose through the ranks. He spent his first 6-7 years as a trooper stationed in St. Croix County. Living in Hudson on the Mississippi River and a short drive to the Twin Cities.
“And then I transferred down to Washington County,” Burrell said. “The State Patrol is part of DOT. They did a realignment of their regions around the state. The county where I worked, Washington County, ended up going from District 3 down to District 2. I wound up working in the Southeast part of the state. I got promoted in 2006 to sergeant. And so I became a supervisor in Walworth County. I worked there for another six years and then I got promoted to lieutenant and went up to Fond du Lac. Then I became the captain there in 2014. After a tragedy that occurred in March 2015 when Trooper Trevor Casper was killed in the line of duty, I got promoted to major down here and was bureau deputy director of field operations. I oversaw all of the regions around the state, all of the field operations and the troopers out in the field.”
And then on January 20, 2019, Governor Tony Evers appointed Burrell superintendent — the head — of the Wisconsin State Patrol. Burrell is the first African American to hold the post.
Part 2: Recruiting to make the Wisconsin State Patrol reflect the people of Wisconsin