By Dave Fidlin
CORRESPONDENT
More than a decade-and-a-half has passed since the Whitewater Police Department has added a sworn member to its force. But in the year ahead, that hard-and-fast number will be changing.
At a Police and Fire Commission meeting on Dec. 2, Police Chief Daniel Meyer discussed what the increase in sworn staff means for the Whitewater Police Department in the upcoming year.
“Thankfully, the council approved a 2025 budget that includes an additional detective for us,” Meyer said. “That is going to increase our staffing, for the first time, since 2008. We’ll go from 24 sworn to 25 sworn (officers) with that new position in 2025.”
With the council’s affirmative vote in place, Meyer said the department will soon begin a formal application process for the position – either late this month or very early in the new year.
“It is with an anticipated hiring date in April of 2025,” Meyer said. “That’s really good news for us.”
Police staffing has been stretched thin in recent years, Meyer and other department officials have stated in recent times as the city’s population has increased and the needs of people within the community have grown more complex and diverse.
To that end, the Common Council is in the process of considering a public safety referendum that, if successful, would pour additional financial resources into the department beyond the one additional sworn position that is now in place.
Meyer briefly discussed with commissioners the preliminary steps associated with the public safety referendum, including the onboarding of a communications firm that will share information in the community about the reasons behind the referendum and how added funds would be applied.
“We are getting them some documentation,” Meyer said of the consultant, which is Mueller Communications. “Everything’s on track with that.”
The council still needs to adopt a formal resolution for the potential April public safety referendum.
Early this fall, Meyer, Finance Director Rachelle Blitch and other city officials presented five possible referendum package options, ranging from $1.95 million on the high end to $711,336 on the low end.
City officials are reviewing a series of different options for the various referendum packages, including additional patrol officer staffing, equipment patrols and other items that would weigh on the expense side of the department’s financial ledger.
The decision on a communications consultant is step one of a series of considerations that will be coming up in short order.
The council has until the second half of January to determine whether it wants to place the public safety referendum on the April ballot.
Whitewater’s tab for the forthcoming communications work totals $55,145.09. Mueller Communications was one of two firms that responded to the city’s request for proposals for the work. De Vor Communications was the other firm that threw its hat into the ring.
