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Finalists back broader crisis training and informed civilian oversight for Middleton
Summary
Candidates said rising mental-health calls require expanded crisis-intervention training, possible co-responder social-worker models and informed civilian review; they emphasized training for civilian reviewers and building partnerships to speed mental-health care.
Candidates told attendees that mental-health calls are among the fastest-growing demands on police and require both more training for officers and new response models.
Steven Thompson pointed to rising mental-health calls and urged critical-incident training so officers can manage calls safely and reduce their duration: “I would like to have all officers be trained in critical incidents,” Thompson said.
Jeremy Geiser proposed alternatives to a uniform law-enforcement response for certain calls, including a co-responder social-worker model or non‑sworn community service officers who could handle specific, lower-risk calls. “If we could get like a Cares team… it would be ideal,” Geiser said, describing the goal of diverting calls that do not require sworn officers.
Warren Allen said universal crisis-intervention-team (CIT) training should be a priority and recommended more investigator training and retention strategies so the department can respond effectively. “Every last one of them are CIT trained,” Allen said of his tenure in Milwaukee, and he urged Middleton to pursue similar training citywide.
On civilian oversight, candidates supported informed review panels rather than ad hoc oversight. Geiser and Allen said civilian reviewers should have training or mixed membership that includes retired public-safety professionals; Thompson noted the city’s 10-week citizen academy as a way to create informed reviewers. All candidates said transparency and informed civilian participation can build public trust without compromising accuracy in use-of-force review.
