Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz Statement on the Retirement of Toledo Police Chief George Kral

Chief George Kral has been a truly outstanding public servant during his 32 years of service to our city, and in particular, he has distinguished himself over the past 7 years as one of the best Chiefs of Police in the country.

I always tell Chief Kral that, in my opinion, being a police chief is the single hardest job in America, and yet Chief Kral has handled the unique pressures of his job with both grace and excellence.

In particular, the drastically lower amounts of crime and gun violence we have seen in Toledo this year — and in particular over the past 3 months — are a direct result of the efforts he and his team have made to address a national problem with innovative local solutions.

As I begin to think about the future of the Toledo Police Department and who should be its next leader, I do so knowing that Chief Kral will have impossibly large shoes to fill.