INDIANA—Major Nila Miller-Cronk has announced her retirement from the Indiana State Police following a 38-year law enforcement career.
Major Miller-Cronk, a native of Spiceland, Indiana, is a 1977 Tri Jr. Sr. High School graduate in Straughn, IN. She began her law enforcement career as an Advisor for the Henry County Sheriff’s Department Explorer Scout Troop #433 in 1981 (and for the next 15 years). She then became a Reserve Deputy for the Henry County Sheriff’s Department from 1983 through 1986 before earning acceptance to the 44th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy in July 1986. In 1990, she graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Administration degree in Business Administration.
On November 16, 1986, Major Miller-Cronk was appointed as a Trooper and assigned to the Indiana State Police Post in Pendleton, where she served the citizens of Henry County. In 1990, she was promoted to Corporal and served as a District Duty Officer at the Connersville Post. In 1994, she was promoted to Sergeant, serving as a Recruiter assigned to Human Resources at General Headquarters. In 2000, she was promoted to First Sergeant to serve as Commander of the Recruiting Section. In 2003, she was promoted to Lieutenant to serve as Commander of the Financial Management & Research Section assigned to the Fiscal Division. In 2004, she was promoted to Captain to serve as Assistant Commander in the Human Resources Division, where she served for six months, and was transferred to the Fiscal Division to serve as Assistant Commander. In 2006, she was transferred to Professional Standards to serve as Assistant Commander. In 2007 she was promoted to Major to serve as Commander of the Internal Investigations Section. In this position, she also served as the Department’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office and the Department’s Ethics Officer. Major Miller-Cronk served in every rank between Recruit and Major. Between 2007 and 2021, Major Miller-Cronk served as the highest-ranking female in the department until Major Dana Harshman was promoted to Major.
For the first 16 years of her career, she was active in the ISP Career Camps (Girls & Co-Ed), where she served as a counselor (two years) and as Career Camp Director (14 years). During that same period, she also served on the Indiana State Police Youth Services Board of Directors. Between early 2004 and June of 2013, she served as the only female elected to serve as a member of the Pension Advisory Board and Insurance Committee for the Department.
During her career, she attended numerous training courses. Major Miller-Cronk also completed Northwestern University Command Officer’s Development Course, Southern Police Institute Staff and Command School, Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (FBINA) #258 in Quantico, Virginia, International Chiefs of Police Women’s Leadership Institute, and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Mentoring Training.
Major Miller-Cronk was recognized by the Indiana General Assembly in House Resolution No. 38 on March 1, 2018, as one of several Indiana women serving in law enforcement. She was awarded the Indiana Commission for Women’s Torchbearer Award with the Trailblazer Distinction in October 2018 and the Indiana Office of the Inspector General’s Award of Excellence – Veteran Ethics Officer Award in November 2020. She currently serves as the Director of the Board for Survivors of Blue Suicide.
One of her proudest professional accomplishments was her involvement in the creation of the Indiana State Police Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Committee/Program in 2016, followed by the First Annual ISP Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Training in 2018, followed by the Second Annual ISP Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Training in 2019, but due to COVID the third annual training in 2020 was canceled; however, this training was rescheduled and held in November of 2021 and has been held every year since.
Over the past few years, she was also allowed to serve as an assessor on numerous promotion assessment centers for other agencies: Illinois State Police, Delaware State Police, Arkansas State Police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Kentucky State Police, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Airport Police Department, Springfield Police Department (Illinois), Tulsa Police Department (Oklahoma), and Chicago Police Department.
She is a member of the following organizations: National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE) where she served as former Secretary, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Indiana State Police Alliance (ISPA), National Internal Affairs Investigators Association (NIAIA), and FBI National Academy Associates – an active member of both national & state chapters.
Major Nila Miller-Cronk and the late Kim Cronk have two grown daughters, Lauren Cronk from Los Angeles, California, and Leanna Lome (husband Josh), from Westfield, Indiana.
