After six years as the city's top cop, Police Chief Tim Dolan will step down Nov. 2, his office announced last week.

His retirement has been anticipated since April, when he said he would step aside at the end of this year after more than three decades on the Minneapolis force.

His likely replacement, Assistant Chief Janée Harteau, was named over the summer.

The low-key and likeable Dolan leaves a legacy of lowered crime rates and a more high-tech police force. The city recorded 6,480 violent crimes in 2006, the year he took over; that number fell to 3,811 last year.

In 2010, the City Council voted 8-5 to appoint him to a second term despite criticism about expensive payouts in police misconduct cases.

A city native who was raised in the Hawthorne neighborhood, Dolan, 57, said last week that he looks forward to spending the holidays with his wife and four sons before making any decisions about his future.