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Public Safety Committee plans memo to seek two officers to reach 24-hour police coverage
Summary
The Village of Cross Plains Public Safety Committee discussed chronic understaffing in the police department and agreed a committee member will bring a Sept. 15 memo recommending two full-time officers (costs and funding options) to pursue consistent 24-hour coverage.
The Village of Cross Plains Public Safety Committee on Tuesday took up a months‑long discussion about police staffing shortfalls and agreed a committee member will prepare a memo for the Sept. 15 meeting recommending two additional full‑time officers.
The memo, the author said, will estimate costs, compare Cross Plains to similar communities and recommend whether to seek funding in the village budget or pursue a referendum. "My plan is Sept. 15th I'm going to bring a memo to this committee asking for it to be recommended to the village board," the committee member said.
Committee members and department officials described a sharp rise in calls for service and limited staffing. "We're just about to 3,000 calls for service," the police chief said, noting last year's total was 4,800. The chief described the department as "way understaffed for the call volume that we have ... It's become a public safety issue."
Committee members pressed on the operational impacts and hiring constraints: new hires must attend an academy that runs only twice a year and require months of field training, delaying the time before recruits can provide full patrol coverage. The chief said modest increases in part‑time staff had not solved the problem and that overtime spending had risen; he reported a part‑time hour budget of about $12,000 and earlier use of overtime dollars that was approaching depletion.
Members discussed funding routes. Options outlined included (1) finding offsets inside the current budget, (2) reallocating positions over time, or (3) placing a referendum before voters to raise revenue for additional police staffing. One member noted a referendum requires significant public engagement and a tight ballot timeline and said it might be a next‑year strategy.
Committee discussion settled on preparing a memo for committee review in September that will include a cost estimate for two officers and proposed funding pathways; if the committee approves the memo it will be forwarded to the village board and then to the finance committee for budgeting consideration. "That would be my plan after you guys sent a letter ... the memo is the process that they take anyway," the memo author said.
The committee did not take a final vote to add positions at the meeting. Next steps are the Sept. 15 committee meeting (the author’s target for the memo) and follow‑up with the village board and finance committee as needed.
