By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Two Whitewater patrol officers recently received promotions to lieutenants as part of a larger scale staffing reorganization of the Whitewater Police Department.
After meeting behind closed doors to interview an unspecified number of candidates, the Whitewater Police and Fire Commission on Oct. 27 appointed James Elder and Adam Vander Steeg to the lieutenant positions.
“We were very pleased with the caliber of candidates,” said Jan Bilgren Craggs, who chairs the commission. “We know (Elder and Vander Steeg) will help the department be even better than it already is.”
Speaking directly to Elder and Vander Steeg, Bilgren Craggs said, “Thank you for your leadership.”
The dual appointments come on the heels of a plan in motion by Police Chief Lisa Otterbacher. As part of the department’s organizational chart, Otterbacher said she would like to eliminate all sergeant-level positions within the department.
While there are not any plans to actually increase staffing within the department, Otterbacher said the reorganization is designed to better delineate between patrol and supervisory work. Many of the upper-level positions will likely contain a hybrid of the two sets of duties.
Speaking to the benefits of increasing lieutenant positions in lieu of sergeants, Otterbacher said, “We would simply be taking the sergeants positions and making them lieutenants positions. I think it would provide better organizational flow within the department.”
The soon-to-be-revamped staffing chart is not revolutionary to the region. Neighboring communities — including Fort Atkinson and Jefferson — have already done away with sergeant-level positions for reasons similar to the ones outlined by Otterbacher.
In addition to increasing lieutenant staffing, the department is aggressively seeking a new captain within the department. Internal interviews for that position ended recently, and the Police and Fire Commission will soon meet with Otterbacher to discuss and interview the top finalists.
The appointments of Elder and Vander Steeg come on the heels of a series of staffing announcements earlier this fall.
In late September, commissioners named David Gempler, Daniel Meyer and Shawn Reif to lieutenant-level positions within the department. Meyer holds the position of detective lieutenant.
One other recent staffing change within the department included shifting Officer Justin Stuppy to a solo patrol shift.
Some of the recent staffing changes come at the hand of some departures. The lieutenant promotions in September were in response to the departures of Captain Brian Uhl and Lieutenant Timothy Gray. Both departed Whitewater’s police force Aug. 21.
In addition to the upper-level changes within the sworn force, Otterbacher is proposing changes within the communications center that houses the dispatchers who accept and route calls.
If approved, personnel within the communications center would answer to a support services manager, rather than a supervisor-level sworn officer within the department.
“This is part of a larger trend for organizations,” Otterbacher said.
Further discussion about Otterbacher’s suggested changes are slated to take place in upcoming months.
