On November 8 community members, law enforcement partners and generations of MPD personnel gathered to honor Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest serving officer in the Minneapolis Police Department, for an investigative career spanning 38 years of service.
Zimmerman, who lives in Minneapolis and has family here on the Northside, was recognized with the Distinguished Service Award for his time working in the Homicide Unit. He was also promoted to the rank of Commander and will now serve as the Major Crimes Community Response Coordinator. While community members spoke about how he was always willing to work with them, and fellow officers spoke about how he always reminded them of the importance of knowing the community, it was those whose loved ones were homicide victims who were the most poignant. They talked about how caring he always was to their families and how much they appreciated him for that.