ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Ashwaubenon Public Safety officers have concerns about a major change proposed to their daily operations. It would put some officers, who normally wait for rescue calls, out on the road.
As a public safety department, Ashwaubenon’s officers are trained to respond to police, fire, and EMS calls.
Normally, three or four officers are at the village hall, ready to respond to a rescue call.
The village is planning to take one or two of those officers, and put them on the road, while still being on standby for rescue.
“So your staffing wouldn’t change to the call,” said Interim Chief Tom Rolling of Ashwaubenon Public Safety.
“You could actually potentially have another person respond to that call, end up maybe being as a police officer, not so much on the rescue squad.”
The idea came from a $90,000 study Fitch & Associates did for the village on its public safety operations. It found officers spend 72% of their busy hours on police calls, 13% on EMS, and 10% on fire.
“If there are four of us on the road when there are only two at it before, that is half the work, half the reports you had to do,” said Rolling.
FOX 11 spoke off-camera with the union president for Ashwaubenon’s public safety officers. He said officers have concerns about the change, but the association wants to do more research before it takes an official stance.
“I’m not going to say I’m 100% behind this, but I think this is something we need to look at,” said Rolling.
Village leaders say the change would not eliminate any positions or have any financial implications. The goal is to try the new format at some point next year.
The village is also in the process of trying to hire a new chief for the public safety department. Interviews started last month.
