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Muskego police chief warns of staffing shortages; school resource officer promotion to be recommended next meeting
Summary
At a Muskego City Police and Fire Commission meeting, the police chief reported widespread staffing shortfalls among small departments, said a School Resource Officer will be recommended for promotion at the next meeting, and reviewed upcoming community events involving the department.
The police chief reported at a Muskego City Police and Fire Commission meeting that staffing shortages are widespread at small law-enforcement agencies and said the commission will be asked at its next meeting to recommend the promotion of the department’s school resource officer to sergeant.
The chief told commissioners he attended an FBI National Academy leadership symposium and visited about 40 similarly sized agencies, and said 39 of those agencies were “not at full strength,” while one full-strength agency had six sworn officers. “There is issues across law enforcement… it is an epidemic of officers moving from one location to another,” the chief said. He asked commissioners to be “conscious” of market conditions when making personnel decisions.
The chief said Officer Sandretti, the department’s school resource officer, completed the interview process and performed well at a recent graduation event; the commission will consider a formal recommendation for promotion to sergeant at the next meeting. The chief said specifics were being withheld until a vote could be scheduled and completed: the promotion will be recommended for a future agenda rather than decided at the meeting he was reporting to.
The chief also outlined community activities the department will support: participation in Special Olympics on Saturday; the Law Enforcement Memorial hosted by the county sheriff’s office on Friday, where the department will recognize Captain Symanczyk and canine officer Sirius; and an event called “Janet in the Park” planned for Veterans Park. He described a request for a bagpiper to play at 11:55 p.m. as part of a “mid-midnight” program and said officers may stand by if personnel are available.
Commissioners asked the chief to provide information to the public about local impacts of drug overdoses and addiction and whether literature could be made available; a commissioner requested a short presentation from department representatives on how drug overdoses and addiction are affecting local emergency services.
No formal personnel action was taken during the open meeting; the chief said the promotion recommendation will be included on a future agenda for formal consideration.
The commission later moved into a closed session to discuss an officer personnel matter (see separate article on that action).
