DATE: May 12, 2005
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, May 12, 2005, at 11:00 A.M., in the Community Room, D102A, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.
Members Present: Montgomery, Carlson, Fordham, Tollaksen,
Sinklair
Members Excused:
Members Absent:
Others Present: R. Stammen; B. Hinze; M. Hafemann; R. Meister; B. Manning,
W. Wenzel,
County Board Chair William Wenzel reported to the committee that he had heard many positive comments from citizens about purchasing a second police dog with funds donated by the public and private businesses.
Lieutenant Victor Wahl of the Madison Police Department - West District wrote to thank detectives of the Sheriff's Department for assistance in an incident in which a fugitive from their jurisdiction was reportedly
in Sauk County. Several Sauk County detectives and patrol persons were at the scene to attempt to arrest the person. Unfortunately the young man took his life before officers could intervene and take him into custody.
The committee was informed that the United States Supreme Court denied the petition of Dennis Christensen in the case of Christensen versus Randy Stammen.
Sheriff Stammen read a letter of appreciation from Tricia Garwood. Garwood praised Deputy Charles Schreiber and Sergeant Jeff Tobin for their handling of an incident in which a family member was arrested.
Cindy Nelson sent a letter of thanks for the way Deputy Joel Vodak had handled a complaint involving Nelson's ex-husband and her elderly parents.
Sheriff Stammen said he reads letters of thanks and appreciation and also letters of complaint but stated he has not received any negative letters for quite some time. Wenzel and Tollaksen both stated they had heard many comments from the public that were complimentary as well.
Fordham asked that some of the letters of appreciation be sent to County Clerk Bev Mielke to be read at the County Board meetings once the letters have been edited to remove the names and identifying information to protect the privacy of the letter writers.
Sheriff Stammen said that the Sauk County Humane Society has asked to be included on the Law Enforcement Committee agenda under appearances each month to give the committee a brief report on what's going on at the Shelter if the committee had no objection. The committee said it seemed to be a good idea.
There were no other appearances.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Fordham to approve payment of the Coroner's April, 2005, bills in the amount of $1,957.29. Motion carried unanimously.
Joan Fordham said that the Finance Committee had approved the budgetary overruns for the Coroner's Office from 2004, which Hinze said were the result of costs for autopsies beyond the number anticipated, as well as the denial of the Sauk County Board of Supervisors to approve the levying of an increase in the cost of a cremation permit. That resulted in a reduced amount of revenues.
Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to approve payment of
the Sheriff's April, 2004, bills in the amount of $117,827.57.
Motion
carried unanimously.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Carlson, to approve the Resolution
Authorizing Purchase of Police Dog and Attendance of Deputy Tyler Stephens
and Police Dog at handling and Training School at Vohne Liche Kennels
in Denver, Indiana, and to take the resolution to the Sauk County Board
of Supervisors at the May, 2005, meeting.
Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Fordham, to approve the Resolution
Authorization to Extend Contract with Consolidated Correctional Food
Service For Provision of Inmate Meals and to take the resolution to
the Sauk County Board of Supervisors at the May, 2005, meeting.
Motion
carried unanimously.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Carlson, to approve the application
of the Border Riders for a permit for an open air assembly on May 28
and 29, 2005.
Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Carlson, to go into closed session.
Fordham Yes
Sinklair Yes
Montgomery Yes
Carlson Yes
Tollaksen Yes
Motion carried unanimously.
Susan Grossenbacher, the secretary/treasurer of the Sheriff's Department's bargaining unit tallied the scores given by members of the Law Enforcement Committee members on six essays. The essays were submitted by children of law enforcement personnel vying for the 2005 scholarship from the WPPA. The winning essay was written by Rachel Benesh, daughter of Jailor Toni Benesh. Benesh's son won the scholarship last year. The runner up was Ryan Schreiber, son of Patrol Deputy Charles Schreiber.
Captain Hafemann reported that another jail inmate has earned his GED.
There were 414 boarding days in March for electronic monitoring.
$6,628.00 collected
$2,250.77 paid for lease of equipment
$4,377.23 balance
There were 431 boarding days in April for electronic monitoring
$6,907.00 collected
$2,327.11 paid for lease of equipment
$4,579.89 balance
Inmate boarding for April billed to Dane County, Iowa County and Rock County totaled $98,596.65, bringing the year-to-date total to $352,320.17 for 2005.
Inmate meals for April numbered 21,698.
April, 2005, statistics showed 1196 hours of overtime; 830.5 paid hours and 365.5 hours of banked compensatory time. Supervisory overtime for April was 32.5 hours; 8 hours for grant enforcement, 16.5 for ERT callouts and training, and 8 hours for an investigation.
There were 117 transports in April, for a year-to-date total of 467.
Deputy Tyler Stephens has been assigned as the second K-9 Deputy. Although a sign up sheet was posted there were no other bidders besides Stephens. Sheriff Stammen said there was general recognition by the department of the effort Deputy Stephens had put into collecting donations for the second K-9 and his enthusiasm for becoming a dog handler. The shift he and the second dog will be working is under discussion and both handlers, Deputy Rupert and Deputy Stephens, may be placed on a power shift to cover high activity times on second and third shift.
Amanda Wuensch has been hired as a dispatcher to replace Josip Sabol, who has been permanently assigned to the Patrol Division to cover the vacancy left by the resignation of William Charlebois. A second dispatcher, Todd Carlson, has been offered employment to fill the permanent reassignment of Sabol. Wuensch fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Thomas Murphy.
Captain Meister reported that a tentative schedule to cover the Circus Parade has been done.
There were no fatal traffic crashes in April.
On May 6, 2005, a deer ran into the side of Deputy Burroughs' squad causing a small dent.
There was a minor range injury on April 28, 2005, but no work time was lost.
On April 30, 2005, Sergeant Aaron Kirby and Deputy Alex Breunig handled a domestic disturbance which resulted in the arrest of a male. Sergeant Kirby suffered a dislocated finger and Deputy Breunig had his uniform contaminated with blood, including a pair of leather gloves. The uniform was decontaminated but the gloves had to be disposed of in the biohazardous waste. They will be replaced at department expense. Sergeant Kirby's finger was popped back into place and there was no lost work time due to the injury.
Motion by Carlson, seconding by Tollaksen, to adjourn the meeting.
Motion
carried unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted: Joan Fordham, Secretary