In a unanimous decision, Milwaukee’s Police and Fire Commission appointed current police chief Ed Flynn to another four year term on Thursday. Flynn’s second term marks the first time in Milwaukee history a police chief has been re-appointed since the introduction of term limits in 1984.

“I am deeply grateful for this vote of confidence,” said Flynn before the six-person committee. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”

The reappointment came after a closed door meeting during which the commissioners evaluated Flynn’s performance. Recently, the Police Department has been under fire for allegations of delayed responses to 911 calls.

Before 1984, police chiefs were given lifetime appointments, but after the retirement of Harold Breier, they were appointed to seven-year terms. The length of a term was later reduced to just four years following the appointment of Nannette Hegarty in 2003.

Of the five Milwaukee police chiefs appointed in the past 27 years, Flynn has been the only one asked to stay for an additional term. One, Robert Ziarnik, retired two years early in 1989. Another, Arthur Jones, reapplied for the position, but was let go in 2003.

Flynn came to Milwaukee in 2008 after serving as police commissioner in Springfield, Mass. for two years. Previously, Flynn had worked as the Massachusetts secretary of public safety and the chief of police for Arlington, Va.

On Thursday, however, the 63-year-old Flynn suggested that Milwaukee was the final stop on his career.

“How long I stay, at this part of my life, is not a function of some other department,” Flynn said to reporters. “This is the police department that is going to be my legacy department.”

Flynn is expected to be sworn in again early next year before the end of his first term on Jan. 8.