Town, Village working out language in policing contract

By Dave Fidlin

Correspondent

With agreements on both sides of the table in place, officials in the Town and Village of Waterford are about to begin hammering out many of the specifics pertaining to the town providing police resources to the village next year.

After months of debate and review, the boards overseeing both municipalities in June voted to move forward with the plan, which unravels the village’s longstanding arrangement of having Racine County Sheriff’s deputies provide exclusive public safety services.

Town Police Chief Tom Ditscheit has asserted in recent months that four full-time officers will need to be hired to accommodate policing the village. As stated in the agreement, the town will employ the officers.

The Town Board on July 13 began discussing the hiring and recruitment process for the additional officers. The town has at least three part-timers who could potentially be bumped up to full-time status, though officials have expressed interest in conducting an exhaustive search for candidates.

On the surface, at least, Town Chairman Tom Hincz said he saw benefit in promoting from within.

“They’re experienced and know the area,” Hincz said of the three officers, who have not been named. “We should consider them.”

At the prompting of municipal attorneys, Hincz and his village counterpart, President Tom Roanhouse, did not vote during deliberations concerning the agreement. The reason: Hincz and Roanhouse each serve on the Racine County Board, a scenario the attorneys argued was a conflict of interest.

With the agreement in place, however, the elected leaders of both municipalities have taken a more active role in hammering out the specifics.

Hincz said he wanted an all-hands-on-deck approach toward searching for the additional officers. He implored his elected colleagues on the Town Board, as well as staffers within the police department, to provide input.

“I want everyone involved,” he said. “We have to do this right. We need people who want to work. We need responsible people.”

As is the case with any law enforcement agency, hiring is an exhaustive process because of the nature of the work. In addition to the standard recruitment process that entails obtaining application materials and interviews, the town will need to conduct an extensive background check on the prospective hires.

The town could go with an outside professional firm to conduct the searches, though such an endeavor would drive costs up. Hincz and other board members agreed to do the work in-house.

A series of steps and delegation of responsibilities have been laid out as the recruitment process gets underway. Hincz, Ditscheit and a handful of other officials will handle some of the most granular work, including resume reviews and interviews.

Ditscheit will be tasked with providing recommendations on the hires, though the Town Board will have the ultimate say in who joins the force.

Hincz said the town has already received inquiries about the additional positions. He and other board members agreed to formally post the positions on a website specializing in police-related issues.

“Word of mouth gets this kind of thing out there,” Hincz said.