By Dave Fidlin
Law enforcement officials within the Whitewater Police Department and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s separate law enforcement agency have announced a collaborative effort during a recent round of emergency preparedness training.
One of the most visible ways the two agencies are working in tandem is through the adoption of a memorandum of understanding that gives the UW-Whitewater Police Services department the authority to use the city’s Emergency Operations Center in the event of a large-scale catastrophic event.
The Common Council adopted the MOU at their meeting Feb. 17.
City Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher said the arrangement gives UW-Whitewater police the authority to use the city’s emergency resources in cases where UW-Whitewater’s law enforcement personnel need to temporarily relocate their command center.
In a memo to the city, Nicholas Thompson, an officer within UW-Whitewater’s Police Services department, said the arrangement with the city is an outgrowth of its own operations plan that outlines what steps would be taken if a serious incident, such as a terrorist attack, were to occur.
“While steps have been taken to identify alternate facilities, to date, these decisions have been made in the absence of certain key location criteria that are essential to making choices that ensure that UW-Whitewater Police Service’s alternate facilities will be safe and functional,” Thompson wrote in the memo.
In addition to usage of the Whitewater Police Department’s facility, UW-Whitewater police would operate command stations at a series of other strategic locations within the campus itself, including the basement areas of several residence halls and a parking lot area.
