WAUKESHA, Wis. — Waukesha Police Department leaders told the Finance Committee they expect to be nearly fully staffed by January and outlined department goals for 2026 including maintaining authorized staffing, expanding crisis-response work and reducing traffic accidents.

Tom Wagner, Assistant Chief, and Ty Hoffman, Assistant Chief, presented the department's operating budget and said personnel are the largest share of costs. Wagner said the department's goals include "to keep all the funded positions that we have fully staffed and consistently maintained at authorized levels" and continuing the Crisis Response Unit's work to reduce emergency detentions and increase voluntary treatment.

Staffing and recruitment

Department officials said aggressive recruitment and a streamlined hiring process reduced vacancies from as many as 13 patrol openings earlier this year to two vacancies at the time of the presentation; the department expects two named candidates to begin recruit academy in January. Wagner credited the recruitment team's flexibility and outreach, including lateral hires and facility tours, as factors in improved hiring.

Overtime and budget questions

Officials told the committee the patrol overtime line was significantly over budget this year. Causes cited included sick and duty-related injuries, FMLA, military leave, special events, SWAT activations and other unpredictable demands. Wagner said the department has shifted from a minimum-staffing to an "optimal staffing" model that gives supervisors discretion to adjust staffing in real time to contain overtime where possible.

Crisis Response Unit and dispatch

Members of the committee praised the Crisis Response Unit (CRU); a committee member asked for a memo documenting CRU's operational benefits and staff-hours saved to help advocate with county partners. On dispatch, department officials said they were down three dispatchers at the time of the meeting and are recruiting; a new dispatch software system is under development as a capital project, with operating impacts expected in coming years.

Budget sensitivity

When asked how the department would approach a hypothetical $500,000 cut, department leaders said about 95% of the operating budget is personnel, so a cut at that scale would likely require staff reductions and associated service impacts.

Sources and attribution

Comments were made in public session by Assistant Chiefs Tom Wagner and Ty Hoffman, and by City Administrator Tony Brown and Finance staff who fielded budget questions. Committee members included Alderman Manion and others who questioned overtime budgeting and special-event cost recovery.