Personnel committee approves converting two vacant Green Bay police lieutenant posts into sergeant roles

An unnamed police department staff member told the City of Green Bay Personnel Committee on Jan. 27 that the city will reclassify two vacant police lieutenant positions — one in community policing and one in the training unit — to police sergeant roles and authorized filling the resulting vacancies. The motion passed unanimously.

The staff member said the reclassification is part of a multi-year effort to align department ranks with common industry practice. "This is a long term project in the police department," the staff member said, noting the department removed the sergeant rank in 1990 and later reinstated it under a predecessor. "Originally, it was only in patrol, and there were 15 of them," the staff member added, describing an inconsistent mix of lieutenant and sergeant frontline supervision across units.

Officials said converting the two vacant lieutenant positions will increase the number of sergeant roles and provide more career pathways and frontline supervision development opportunities. "We do believe that that has prevented some people from applying for that job," the staff member said, describing previously limited sergeant duties as a deterrent to applicants. Committee members expressed support for the change, with one member noting the issue had been raised during recent contract discussions.

Alder Tambourine moved the reclassification and a second was offered; the committee voted "aye" and the motion passed unanimously. The committee did not provide a roll-call tally by name in the transcript. The committee did not state an effective date for the personnel changes or provide a timetable for filling the vacancies during the meeting.

Clarifying details: the staff member identified the two vacant lieutenant posts (community policing and training unit) and framed the change as part of an ongoing realignment to standardize frontline supervision under sergeants.