DATE: June 9, 2005
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, June 9, 2005, at 9:30 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: Carlson, Fordham, Tollaksen, Sinklair
Members Excused: Montgomery
Members Absent:
Others Present: R. Stammen; B. Hinze; M. Hafemann; R. Meister; R. Capener; D. Anstett; W. Schneider, Sauk County Humane Society; J. Prantner; Ryan Boardman; Sandra Vazquez; C. Schreiber; L. Forbes-Miller, Public
Sheriff Stammen read a letter from the Defense Logistical Excess Property Division concerning the availability of 37 government surplus rifles which are being sent to their Waunakee warehouse. The rifles will be inspected to see if they're in good condition. If the condition is acceptable they will be used. There is no cost to the county for government surplus.
Sgt. Jeff Tobin commended a number of Sauk County deputies for their role in taking into protective custody a male who had threatened suicide. The man, who was armed, was driving around in his car. He was located and taken into custody without incident. He was later transported to a mental health facility.
A letter from a resident of the Town of Fairfield commended Deputy Marty Ederer for his help in resolving a situation where young children were operating an ATV on town roads.
Dennis Anstett, who was selected as the Employee of the Month for March, 2005, was present to receive his award. He was chosen for the award for his part in solving a six-year old homicide case in Lafayette, Indiana. The identity and whereabouts of the suspect in the Indiana homicide case came to light during Anstett's efforts to ascertain the suspect's true name at the time the man was being booked into the Sauk County Jail under an alias. During the course of Anstett's investigation a number of police departments in neighboring states were contacted. One such contact led to the discovery that the man in jail in Sauk County was the long-sought suspect. The accused is currently on trial in Indiana for murder.
The co-winners of the April, 2005, Employee of the Month Award are Deputy Joel Vodak and Deputy Dale Hackbarth. Vodak and Hackbarth arrested a man who was the suspect in a double homicide investigation in Milwaukee. Hackbarth and Vodak took the man into custody at the HoChunk Casino without any use of force or disruption to patrons or staff. In addition to arresting the suspect, Deputy Hackbarth also heard "excited utterances" from the suspect, which were helpful to the investigators for the Milwaukee Police Department. Deputy Hackbarth, who has served with the Sauk County Sheriff's Department for 28 years, was not able to attend the meeting to receive his award. Deputy Joel Vodak is a 10-year veteran and he was chosen as Officer of the Month once before. Vodak was not present either and Sheriff Stammen said the plaques would be given to the officers.
The item was revisited and Shelter Director Wendy Schneider thanked the committee for allowing her to give them an update on a monthly basis. She said in the past two months the shelter has taken in 94 dogs and 140 cats. They're offering special rates right now on the adoption of cats. Schneider said most of the animals are coming from the City of Reedsburg, the Village of West Baraboo/Town of Baraboo and Lake Delton, in that order. They're working on the 2006 budget request and will be presenting that to the committee next month.
The primary issues at the shelter are lack of space to keep the animals; making multiple trips to various towns or cities in the same day, i.e., going to Reedsburg three times in one day to pick up three animals at various times; and the number of animals being kept in quarantine for bite cases, which ties up a lot of space. The donations are down and the fund raising programs have shown decreased revenues in the past year. Schneider reported that Great Wolf Lodge had recently made a donation to the Animal Shelter in the amount of a $500 cash donation and a matching amount in the donation of food, toys and treats for the animals.
Vazquez has been a Spanish interpreter for the Sheriff's Department for a number of years. Several deputies had signed a request asking that she be recognized for her outstanding service. The deputies reported that she comes out at all hours of the day and night, in all weather, and will stand with the officer on a traffic stop to explain the field sobriety tests during an arrest. Detective Luetta Forbes-Miller said she has worked with her on a number of cases involving child abuse, domestic violence investigations and one attempted homicide investigation. She's sensitive, caring, professional and helpful to an extraordinary degree.
Deputy Charles Schreiber who has worked with Sandra many times read the Resolution of Appreciation and presented it to her.
Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Fordham, to approve payment of the Coroner's May, 2005, bills in the amount of $3,031.71. Motion carried unanimously.
In reviewing the Sheriff's bills it was noted that the new squad cars were included in the bills paid in May, along with a new transport van.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Sinklair, to approve payment of the Sheriff's May, 2005, bills in the amount of $259,563.23. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Fordham, seconded by Tollaksen, to recommend to the Personnel Committee that the transport officers' hourly wage be increased by 3% for 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
The program is being used in a number of other counties and is reportedly very successful. It offers inmates time out of the facility performing useful services, giving inmates contact with the community and assisting in reintegration upon release from jail. ATTIC Correction Services is in a position to offer the needed oversight for the program but they would require payment for their services. The committee was presented with a projected cost for the first year of the program and a list of services that ATTIC would provide and those that would be done by jail staff.
Captain Hafemann said the administrative costs of the program would have to be included in the 2006 budget request and he needed the committee's approval to proceed with trying to gain county approval for the costs. The program would start out slowly and on a limited basis and it could be expanded over time if it proved to be worthwhile.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Fordham, to recommend pursuing funding for the Inmate Community Service Program in the 2006 budget process. Motion carried unanimously.
There were 391 boarding days in May for electronic monitoring.
$6,264.75 collected
$2,123.00 paid for lease of equipment
$4,141.75 balance
Inmate meals in May numbered 22,253.
Captain Hafemann reported that he had attended a meeting on the holding cell area on the third floor of the Courthouse Annex in the area of the old jail. When the area is completed it will eliminate the two, three or four trips daily to take inmates back and forth from the Law Enforcement Center to the downtown courtrooms and back. The jail holding area will cover about 30% of the old jail and is projected to cost an estimated $610,000. The money for the project is coming from unspent construction funds for the Law Enforcement Center.
Inmate boarding for May billed to Dane County was $53,363 plus $720.74 for medical expenses; Iowa County was billed $5,044 for boarding and $89.89 for medical costs; and Rock County was billed $41,756 and $109.58 for boarding and medical reimbursements respectively; bringing the year-to-date total for housing and medical fees to $453,403.38 for the months of January through May, 2005.
The revenues reflected on the year-to-date printout from MUNIS, the county's integrated financial program, are less because the actual payments have not been received.
May, 2005, overtime figures included 1,583 hours, 333 of which were banked as compensatory time and 1,250 which were paid. There were 66 hours of supervisory overtime; 50 of which were holiday hours, 5 hours for grant enforcement and 11 hours for training and activities for special teams.
Sheriff Stammen said he has received a request from the supervisors concerning the possibility of having supervisors fill open shifts if all union personnel have refused the overtime, to avoid order-ins. The open shifts would be worked only if the supervisor is available and willing to fill the shift and the supervisor would be paid time and a half for working. The union cited fatigue and burnout for employees ordered to work extra shifts. He said he would be guided by the committee as to whether or not to accept the side agreement with the union. The committee expressed no objections to the plan.
There were 131 transports in May, for a year-to-date total of 601. Costs of housing juveniles in secure detention weren't available since the charges from LaCrosse Secure were received too late to be included with the May bills.
Eligibility lists are currently being prepared for Patrol, Jailors and Clerks.
In August one of the jailors, Deputy Cory Frank, will be reporting for active duty with the military. The return date for Deputy Scott Dadam is uncertain.
Sheriff Stammen told the committee that Deputy Diane Slaney was taken to UW Hospital in Madison on May 27th. HIPAA rules prevent the dissemination of information regarding her condition other than that her family has shared information that she has had a liver transplant and her prognosis is unknown at this time. Deputy Slaney works third shift patrol.
The investigation regarding events that were discussed in closed session at last month's meeting is continuing. Further violations have been found and further disciplinary action is expected.
The scheduling for the Circus Parade on June 25th, 2005, has been done.
Sheriff Stammen said the Highway Safety grants are going well and there's positive feed back from the various communities about the increased patrol. The department has set up a program to track requests for extra patrol and to document the time spent on doing traffic control in the targeted areas. Citizens from the Town of Dellona are in the process of setting up their own highway safety committee to assist them in making requests for signage and extra patrol and identifying areas where excessive speed and unsafe driving are occurring.
There was a fatal accident on May 30th. The driver wasn't wearing a seat belt and alcohol is believed to be a factor.
The alternator burned out of Deputy Schleichert's assigned squad.
The squad assigned to Deputy Boese received a dent and a chip out of the paint at some unknown time and place.
Deputy Hellmich lost her pager.
Deputy Uminski put a dent in the patrol boat when he hit a submerged tree stump while doing boat patrol on Lake Wisconsin.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Sinklair, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Repectfully Submitted: Joan Fordham, Secretary