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Police chief reports staffing shortfalls, rise in thefts and new drone pilot
Summary
Police Chief Mark Waters told the Village Board the department is below authorized sworn strength, reported a quarterly increase in Group A offenses driven by thefts, and described new enforcement and technology initiatives including e-bikes, portable truck scales and a planned drone pilot tied to the Good Hope facility.
Police Chief Mark Waters presented the Menomonee Falls Police Department's second-quarter 2026 report to the Village Board, saying the department was authorized for 67.1 sworn officers but had 61.1 assigned and about 58.1 fully trained and operational as of June 30. He told trustees the department's average operational strength rose during the quarter as recruits entered the academy, but vacancies remain.
Waters said serious (Group A) offenses rose in the quarter — from 141 to 191 in the period cited — an increase he said was driven largely by thefts, including retail and thefts from vehicles, while year-to-date figures showed a modest decline in some categories. "When you look to break those down, you'll see that the significant increase were in thefts," Waters said.
The chief described several operational changes: five new e-bikes have been deployed and five officers completed a 40‑hour bicycle operator course; a portable truck-scale enforcement initiative produced 39 citations from 35 truck stops and removed about 614,000 pounds of overweight material from local roadways; and the department has piloted an AI‑assisted report-writing tool to reduce report time. "We acquired portable truck scales ... and in only two months, we wrote 39 citations as a result of 35 traffic stops," he said.
Waters also outlined a planned drone program to launch from the Good Hope Department of Public Works facility. "It is for officer safety, and it's also for the ability to get those eyes in the sky to identify suspects, obtain evidence," he said, adding the drone would be integrated with dispatch and could transmit video to officers in the field. He said the drone deployment is tied to the Good Hope facility expansion and is expected to be operational by early next summer.
Trustees asked about response times for overweight‑truck stops and how the drone would be used; Waters said a standard truck weight stop can take about 20 minutes depending on violations and that multiple staff would be trained to operate drone systems. The presentation closed with questions about training, community outreach and the department's plan to publish an e‑bike pamphlet for public education.
