By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
The Whitewater Police Department is operating seamlessly, officials say, but if any complaints arise – internally or externally – a clear-cut set of operations procedures will be in place.
The city’s Police and Fire Commission recently consummated a lengthy list of policies that will outline a code of ethics document members are expected to adhere to. Other policies include commissioner responsibilities and expectations, a complaint process and the hiring of sworn personnel within the department.
While commissioners have long had a policy manual in place, some of the provisions within the lengthy document are being refreshed to synch up with the latest language in state statutes, while others are designed to help guide commissions as pivotal decisions are made in the road ahead.
Before putting its stamp of approval on the revised document, commissioners scrutinized a number of items within the policy manual, particularly with complaint procedures.
Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher outlined the delineation between two types of complaint procedures. If a Whitewater officer ever were involved in a criminal investigation, he or she would be privy to some of the same provisions outlined in the Miranda rights on a personal level.
However, Otterbacher said officers would have to adhere to a separate set of requirements under the laws outlined in the Garrity Rights. Under this provision, through the lens of internal investigations, officers must answer questions or face immediate termination.
“You usually let the criminal case ferret out first,” Otterbacher said, outlining how the two scenarios work hand-in-hand in serious investigations.
If any member of the department’s personnel were to be involved in a criminal case, Otterbacher said investigations would be handled independently, outside of the Whitewater Police Department.
It is possible the investigation could even be handled outside the sheriff’s departments in Walworth and Jefferson counties. Otterbacher said the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department would be one logical scenario since it is entirely independent, but personnel are in reasonably close proximity.
Other provisions within the document that had been discussed extensively included commissioners’ overall responsibilities and expectations.
Based on prior discussions, the city will make optional training available to commissioners who desire it. The city’s human resources department could be tapped, periodically, to assist with offering resources to commissioners interested in learning more about hiring procedures.
When discussion of the revised policy manual began this fall, several commissioners stated they believed the training was unnecessary since the appointed body’s only true human resource function comes with the hiring of the police chief.
In all other cases, applicants go through a lengthy interview process before being presented to commissioners with favorable recommendations.
Several commissioners have praised the recent comb-through of their policy document.
“It helps those who serve and want to serve understand the expectations,” said Jan Bilgren, president of the commission.
In other recent business, the Police and Fire Commission recommended the hiring of two new patrol officers. The Whitewater Police Department in recent months has been vigorously seeking candidates to fill the two vacancies.
Before making the recommendation, commissioners had gone into closed session and interviewed the candidates.
