The Police and Fire Commission voted July 22 to approve a revised patrol officer recruitment process aimed at speeding hires amid competition from neighboring agencies.
Commissioners approved changes that include weekly review of applications rather than a quarterly testing cycle, lowering the department’s initial application education threshold from 60 to 40 college credits (with the expectation the academy will provide the remaining credits), use of a more comprehensive online written exam and prerecorded video interviews administered through the vendor Public Safety Answers, and earlier commissioner access to candidate materials through the department’s ESOP portal. The motion to approve, made by Commissioner Dorff and seconded by Commissioner LeBlanc, passed with all commissioners voting in favor.
Police Department staff told the commission the revisions are intended to reduce the time applicants wait between submission and testing or interview. “We just pulled the last 3 month batch, and we’ve got…10 applicants just from May that hadn’t heard anything back other than thank you for submitting,” a department representative said. Commissioners and staff repeatedly cited recruitment competition from neighboring jurisdictions, including Brown County and Appleton, and noted other regional agencies have moved to a 40-credit threshold.
The commission discussed safeguards: commissioners will continue to review background investigations and interview materials, ESOP will be used for commissioners’ written recommendations, and the commission preserved the ability to request additional live follow-up interviews or questions if concerns arise from prerecorded materials. On the record, commissioners emphasized that background checks, the department’s field training program and existing screening steps (including PEP/EQI reviews) remain unchanged and will continue to be used to evaluate maturity, problem solving and other suitability criteria.
Staff described field training changes intended to strengthen new-officer preparation: multi-step FTO phases typically lasting about 12 weeks have been extended by one to two weeks per step when needed, with probationary periods extended in some recent hires to ensure adequate evaluation time. The commission also asked staff to provide metrics for reassessment, including washout rates in field training and time from application submission to hire; staff agreed to supply those numbers for future review.
The meeting moved to closed session later the same day under Wisconsin statutes for consideration of employment data and interviews. In closed session the commission reviewed one candidate background and conducted one interview; the commission decided to continue that candidate in the hiring process and reconvened in open session to confirm that action.
Commissioners said the revised recruitment process will be monitored and can be revisited if measurable problems emerge.