FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Fond du Lac voters will decide on a $1.3 million referendum in April. If passed, the public safety referendum would add more positions to the police and fire departments.
“The public safety referendum is going to hopefully provide for six additional firefighter paramedics and six additional police officers to augment our staff that we already have,” Fond du Lac Fire Rescue Chief Peter O’Leary said.
He tells FOX 11 calls coming in to both public safety departments have increased and are only expected to continue to rise.
“We have seen a dramatic increase of call volume over the last 10 years. You know, a 44% uptick.”
It’s been 20 years since Fond du Lac Fire Rescue has had to add staff to its department, but with calls consistently increasing, O’Leary says the $1.3 million referendum is much-needed.
“We continue to have multiple calls for service going on at the same time and, as a result, we run out of personnel for the ambulance. Oftentimes, we have to take a fire engine out of service, park the fire engine, and then put staff from the fire engine on an ambulance.”
The six firefighter paramedics the referendum would fund would add an additional crew to each shift.
As for the Fond du Lac police department, some residents believe the reason it’s short-staffed is the departments own doing.
“Since March of 2011, we have lost over 30 officers to resignation and/or unplanned early retirements, many of which were a result of petty disciplinary issues,” Scott Siefert of Fond du Lac said.
Residents, like Siefert, who spoke at last week’s council meeting, believe even if six more positions are added to the police department, it still won’t be enough.
“Currently, we are down 10 sworn positions in the department,” he said. “The six positions that are being considered will not bring us to full staffing, thus mandatory overtime will only continue to be a drain on morale within the department.”
Still, O’Leary says having more help is critical and may even be the difference between life and death.
“In order to provide the level of care that I hope I never need, but if I did, or someone in my family did, I’d want there to be a responsible force there, whether it’s a police emergency or fire and EMS emergency. I want to make sure we have adequate staffing.”
The referendum will go to voters on April 6.
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