Police chief defends keeping his department Village of Siren considers one-year trial of using sheriff’s department for police protection; one trustee theatens resignation by Gary King Leader editor SIREN – Like other municipalities across the state facing disappearing state aid and rising costs, the village of Siren is considering eliminating its police department and relying on the Burnett County Sheriff’s Department in a proposal that would likely involve contracted services. To Siren Police Chief Chris Sybers, it’s a bad idea. “The public safety in the village is being put at risk,” Sybers said in a phone interview following a meeting of the village’s
BRIEFLY SPOONER – United States Sen. Ron Johnson announced this week that his staff would be available for mobile office hours at Spooner City Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 26, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the city council chambers at 515 North Summit St. These office hours allow constituents to meet with the senator’s staff to request assistance with a federal agency or regarding other federal matters. - with submitted information ••• RICE LAKE - Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College is offering Traffic Safety for Point Reduction classes at the Rice Lake, New Richmond and Superior campuses. This 12-hour class is designed for people concerned about safe, defensive driving as well as those persons in need of point reduction. Upon successful completion of this course, a person can have a three-point reduction in any point total accumulated against his/her Wisconsin driving record if they have not used this option in the past three years. Preregistration is required. Weeknight and Saturday classes are available. For more information visit www.witc.edu or call 1-800-243-9482, Ext. 5257 for Rice Lake, New Richmond ext 4221, Superior Ext. 6212. - from WITC ••• The photo caption on page 3 last week regarding the Restorative Justice award inadvertently left off the names of the people shown in the photo. People shown were Lisa Johnson, program director for Restorative Justice of Northwest Wisconsin Inc., and Captain Terry Nesvold, Burnett County Jail administrator. We apologize for the omission.
Budget keeps going down
public safety committee on Tuesday morning, Oct. 18. “The response time for county officers can be as long as 25 minutes. There are usually only two (sheriff’s) officers on per shift for the entire county.” Sybers, who also serves as a member of the Burnett County Board of Supervisors, said he met with public safety committee members Phyllis Kopecky and Tom Anderson (member Dave Doty was unable to attend) and was advised that the village is “strongly looking” into an arrangement with the sheriff’s department, headquartered just a few miles north of the village, to provide Siren with police protection. A special meeting to discuss the situation with the full village board had not been scheduled as of press time Wednesday, Oct. 19.
Sybers said he presented a 2012 budget for his department of $210,000, approximately $43,000 less than last year’s budget, representing a cut in operating expenses and salary – including $5,800 of his own take-home pay. The village was looking for a drop to $200,000, Sybers said, a cut that would put his two full-time officers at a level where they couldn’t afford to keep their jobs. He said the village was using six part-time officers, also, but those positions were already cut out of his budget before it was presented to him. “It’s apparently more important to have a bike walkway from CTH B to Clear Lake than a full-time police department,” Sybers said, referring to a project the village included in its 2012 budget to the tune of approximately $11,000 to be used along with a private donation and grant money. He said for the last 10 years as police chief, he’s been under budget every year. “But my budget keeps going down and down and down,” he said. “Still our public works gets to keep their part-time employees – so we can keep the grass mowed.”
Others weigh in
Tuesday’s announcement at the public safety committee meeting was not a complete surprise to Sybers, who said he received a letter Sept. 29 signed by village President Jan Hunter advising him the village personnel committee was working with staff to balance the 2012 budget, and that the village “could not guarantee” the renewal of Syber’s contract or the contracts of his officers. The letter also stated that it was not intended to be a notification of termination but rather of a notice of what might occur. It said the village would continue to work to balance the budget without resorting to employee reduction. Kopecky told the Leader that trying the county plan for a year is the best idea. She said the committee had looked at the budget and had talked about ways to cut, including the use of part-time officers, but she personally feels the village needs to explore options. “We would like to do as much as we can,” Kopecky said, referring to the village’s police department. “But we can’t do
See Police chief, page 4
Survey on police coverage complete Issue forwarded to police commission by Gary King Leader editor FREDERIC – Results from a recent survey of Frederic Village residents on what their police department should look like shows nearly 80 percent of respondents feel the Frederic Police Department employees are “capable and competent.” The survey, created by the village board with help from Polk County’s UW-Extension office, drew response from 60 adults out of an overall population of the village of 1,349. The resignation this past summer of its police chief gave the board the opportunity to seek input as it considered restructuring the department and in formulating the village’s 2012 budget. Survey results were reviewed at the village board’s regular monthly meeting, Monday, Oct. 10. The next step will be a meeting of the village police commission on Nov. 1. The commission will consider the survey results in formulating its recommendation to the full village board. Currently, the village police budget is $184,738. Of that, $153,952 are wages and benefits. There has been some discussion between officials of Frederic and Luck villages – geographically two municipalities just six miles apart – concerning ways the two villages could share elements of public
protection; however, no specifics were explored. “It will be interesting to see what happens when the realities of the faltering economy finally settle in and levy caps on local government start to really limit what can be done, and what is no longer possible to do,” noted Village President William Johnson. Frederic’s police department has been operating with one full-time officer and three part-time officers following the resignation of RJ Severude. Prior to that the department had two full-time and two part-time officers, with the second parttime officer being more of a fill-in position to cover vacations.
Drug problem perceived by some
Bob Kazmierski of Polk County UW-Cooperative Extension, noted that the key findings of the survey included the fact that only 51 percent felt the Frederic Police
Frederic man faces charges after two-vehicle crash
A 29-year-old Frederic man is facing charges of OWI, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and causing injury operating while revoked following a two-vehicle crash Thursday morning, Oct. 13, which seriously injured his passenger. Anthony T. Wall was driving a 1998 Ford Focus coupe at approximately 6:30 a.m., south on Hwy. 65 when he attempted to make a left turn onto 90th Ave., turning into the path of a northbound 2003 Chevrolet Express 2500 van being operated by Ronald R. Andrie, 54, of Amery. The collision caused the rear portion of the Wall vehicle to be completely severed, coming to rest in the northbound lane of Hwy. 65. The Andrie vehicle left the roadway after the collision, coming to rest in the east ditch of Hwy. 65. Wall was taken into custody and his passenger, Misty Posey-Nichols, 20, of Amery, was taken by ambulance to Amery Hospital where she was transferred by air ambulance to Regions Hospital for further treatment of her injuries. Andrie was not injured in the crash. – Photos submitted
Department “effectively resolves issues,” possibly indicating a need for improvement. Overall, Kazmierski noted, Frederic’s police department scored well, with a median score of 64 percent. Perceptions of crime and safety in Frederic by survey respondents indicated that response to business concerns, noise, juvenile/spouse abuse assaults/fights/robbery were not a problem. There was indication of some problem with village ordinance compliance, traffic violations, animals and vandalism. And there is a perceived problem with drugs. “Should watch early a.m. and dusk p.m. Drug deals on southeast end by walking bridge and also boat landing and park on east side of lake,” noted one respondent. “Living in town, we tend to see drug traffic and wish the police noticed it more, too,” another respondent noted.
General comments
Comments in the survey, which allowed people to take part through the village’s Web site, www.fredericwi.com, vary from supportive to critical. Following is an example of comments: “Clean house and start over.” “Possibly share officer(s) with another community or use Polk County Sheriff’s Department more.” “Make our most dependable officer (Dale Johnson) the new chief.” “Reduce the amount of coverage and number of officers. We are a small community with not much going on. Don’t see why a squad car needs to drive by my house 10 times every evening. Or why we need an officer sitting in the Holiday station 24/7.” “The current officers (Dale, Dan, Jesse and Peggy) have done a phenomenal job as law enforcement as well as identifying with the residents of this community.” “More time should be spent building relationships within the village, working with business owners, maybe patrolling on foot sometimes. The pancake breakfasts sponsored by the department are a good idea.” “It would be nice if Frederic could cover Lewis for being so close. Vehiclewise, trade the Avenger for a Chevy Tahoe or anything sturdy for winter driving because I am aware that Avenger and Charger are poor driving in the village and roadway.” “Speed problem on Woodlawn Avenue.” “If there is not a police presence in this community, it will see an increase or (become) overcome by criminals who think they can hide out in a small town.” “I don’t think we need a chief of police, maybe a senior officer. Then we can pay a little more for the duties of scheduling. The cars are nice, but how are they supposed to
See Survey, page 4