May 19, 2006

This letter is to express the serious concerns the Sheboygan Professional Police Association has with the recent actions of the City Council and the Mayor to possibly eliminate the existence of the Sheboygan Police Department. At this time we are not sure if all the citizens of Sheboygan fully understand what this latest action by the council means to the city since there is some misinformation spreading about this study. This is not a plan to discuss shared services or combining services between the Sheboygan Police and the Sheboygan Sheriff Department. This is an effort to totally eliminate the existence of the Sheboygan Police Department. Once the Sheboygan Police Department is eliminated then all law enforcement services to the residents of Sheboygan will be the sole responsibility of the Sheriff Department. To quote Wisconsin Act 40, “…authorizes a city or village to abolish its police department…”

This does not mean the taxpayers of Sheboygan will no longer have to pay for police service. The City of Sheboygan would enter into a contract with the County to pay for sheriff deputies to patrol the city. In other words, all expenses associated with patrolling the city and handling calls would be passed along to the city and city taxpayers. What the citizens of Sheboygan would have is law enforcement services that they are paying for but have no control over. To quote Wisconsin Act 40, “…it (city or village) enters into a contract with the county for the sheriff to provide law enforcement services to the entire city or village.”

At this point I’m only discussing basic patrol service in the city. If residents want other services such as the “Street Crimes Unit’ or the “School Resource Officers”, then the cost of those additional services would also be the responsibility of the city taxpayer as the county would bill the city.

It is well accepted that for the Sheriff Department to take on the responsibility of patrolling the City of Sheboygan, they would have to increase the size of their department considerably. There are two items to consider when increasing the size of the Sheriff Department,

1. The current staffing of the sheriff department excluding jail personnel is smaller than the police department. Likewise the caseload of the sheriff department is smaller than the police department. This is not to say that sheriff deputies are not trained properly or can’t do police work. The issue is the amount of police calls generated in the city and that would overwhelm the current staffing levels of the sheriff department. Thereby creating the need to hire dozens of more deputies and the cost of wages and benefits would be passed along to city taxpayers through the contract agreement.
2. The current Sheriff Department building is not big enough to take on dozens of additional deputies and extra equipment. The county would then have to consider either having to build a bigger sheriff department, possibly outside the city, or they would occupy their current facility plus occupy the current police department in City Hall and run it as a precinct station. There would also be the need to purchase more police cars and related equipment.

The residents of Sheboygan have become accustom to a higher level of police service than some other communities receive. There is a possibility that many of these services we take for granted no will no longer be available in the future. Services such as these are at risk and could be eliminated,

1. School Liaison Officers and their relationship with students and school staff to help maintain a safe school environment and help troubled youth get the help they need.
2. Street Crime Unit and their ongoing & aggressive efforts to combat gangs and drugs in the city.
3. Community Policing Unit and the projects they are involved in such as Neighbors Against Drugs, Crime Stoppers, Neighborhood Pride Inc., Neighborhood Block Watch, Citizen Academy, Triad, plus dozens of crime prevention education programs and talks put on yearly.
4. Community Service Officers enforcing parking and recovering lost or stolen bicycles.

With this latest issue of abolishing the police department puts into serious jeopardy the building of a new police station. First city representatives took away the most logical place to build a police station at Sheridan Park. Now the question becomes, “will the new police station ever be built?” With this discussion of abolishing the police department, we can only view this as another tactic to delay or not build the police station.

The last item that has us very concerned is the moral of the men and women on the police department. During the past year various elected city officials and administrative staff have made a number of false accusations of police officers, police supervisors and police administrators. They have called officers liars, made false accusations and spread misinformation to the public about the police, and sent out various memos to the police personnel restricting what they can say and do. These actions for the past year have reduced the morale of these men and women. This has resulted in an unstable employment atmosphere with officers uncertain about their careers with talks of cutting personnel and now talks of putting the Sheboygan Police Department out of business. Likewise it is becoming difficult to attract quality individuals to apply for a job here. All this does have an affect on the quality of service the citizens receive.

It would seem to us, the men and women of the Sheboygan Police Department, that our city representatives should be discussing how to bring the police department to full staffing levels. We are currently five officers short. Drug issues are rising in the city. This also means other crimes related to drug use is also on the rise, such as thefts, burglaries, assaults and weapon crimes. Common sense would say that city representatives would be very concerned about the safety of the city and do whatever is necessary to help the police keep the city safe. But instead city representatives have decided that the best course of action is to abolish the police department that will result in approximately 85 sworn & experienced officers losing their jobs as well as approximately 40 civilian employees.

The honors that Sheboygan has received in the past such as a safe place to raise a family are in jeopardy. These awards did not happen by accident, but through the combine efforts of the citizens and police forming a partnership and working together. Unfortunately it appears that some members of city government wish to divide that partnership.

This is a very serious issue and we strongly suggest that all City of Sheboygan residents take the time to educate themselves on the facts. This issue will affect the quality of life in Sheboygan, such as jobs, property value, tourism and safety in Sheboygan. Don’t rely solely on what you hear from certain city representatives. We want to recognize Alderpersons Burg, Cerda, Davis, Hanna, Kittelson, Ryan and VanderWheele in having the foresight to see that this issue is not in the best interest for the citizens of Sheboygan and are truly concerned about safety in the city, not gambling with safety by trying to save a few dollars.

Sincerely,
John Winter
President
Sheboygan Professional Police Association

Cc:
Common Council
The Sheboygan Press
The Beacon
WHBL

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