Posted on 01/03/2024 2:26:21 PM PST by Morgana
Five members of a Wisconsin police force resigned on the same day - an exodus that represents nearly half of the department.
The Village of Big Bend announced the resignations this past week, after officers told brass they were fed-up with a 'toxic' work environment created by the village board.
The same board decided to disband the department back in September, a decision that was reversed last month following pressure from locals.
However, within that span, the town's longtime police chief, Don Gaglione, suddenly died - and local coroners recently confirmed it was a suicide.
The revelation likely added to outrage seen from one of the now-resigned officers at a village meeting last month. He was escorted out after airing his distaste toward another ordinance that would get rid of the town's Police and Fire Commission.
Scroll down for video:
'I am tired of the harassment of this village board and all the cr*p I’ve been dealing with throughout the years,' Officer James Soneberg says in the clip of the village's attempt to cut costs for the upcoming year.
The three-year vet proceeds to point at several board members while becoming increasingly animated, before being softly escorted away by fellow officer Joseph Honzelka.
Both men were among the names of those resigning this past Friday, revealed in a terse statement to the department's Facebook page.
It read: 'We regrettably announce[s] the resignation of the following officers: Sergeant [Jamie] Aide - 7 Years, Officer [Nathaniel] Schweitzer - 5 Years, Officer [Justin] Hennlich- 10 Years, Officer Honzelka - 1.5 Years, [and] Officer Soneberg - 3 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Likely the village board wants to use rent cops from a larger center or private security guards in order to cut costs.
There’s a town that desperately needs to have Abbott send them about 6 busloads...
Or just contract with the local sheriff's department. If it's a small town, they likely don't have much 'crime' to speak of anyway, if they are far enough away from any large concentration of ferals.
Our town tried to do that several years ago. I really didn't care one way or another. It would just mean less ticket revenue coming into the town, since we really don't have much crime here.
Five members of a Wisconsin police force resigned on the same day - an exodus that represents nearly half of the department.So, if five resigned and that is NEARLY HALF of the department, then the department must have 11 officers. It must be a big town to have a police force that size. But Wiki says...
Big Bend is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,483 at the 2020 census.Not bad -- one officer for every 134 residents. Must be the safest village in Wisconsin.
Lot of small towns have trouble recruiting and keeping police, and decide to contract with county sheriffs. Happens a lot.
A town of 1500 in a Milwaukee area Waukesha County of 400,000.
That is an incredible number of police for any town.
I would get rid of them, in favor of alternatives.
Our little town of 700 has a Chief and one officer. It’s very hard to retain officers here. One guy was here a long time, but recently we’ve had tenure measured in months. One guy was a pure scammer looking to get let go and hit the jackpot.
There should be no ‘town police’. They are accountable to the town council, not the people. They are misused as a revenue source for the town via silly parking ticket ordnances, etc.
Sheriffs, on the other hand, are elected by the people and accountable to the people.
Reminds me of a headline about a small town nearby:
“xxxxville DOUBLES police force”
Reading down further:
“With the hiring of officer Smith....”
“Lot of small towns have trouble recruiting and keeping police, and decide to contract with county sheriffs. Happens a lot.
A town of 1500 in a Milwaukee area Waukesha County of 400,000.”
Absolutely. When I was a young man our town of 3500 did exactly that. They just could not afford their own city dept anymore.
How many banks and fast food joints there? Money!!
Yes, but police officers don't work 24/7. They have to sleep, same as anyone else.
How many on active duty at any one time? A third at most?
[Not bad — one officer for every 134 residents. Must be the safest village in Wisconsin.]
“There should be no ‘town police’. They are accountable to the town council, not the people. They are misused as a revenue source for the town via silly parking ticket ordnances, etc.”
I agree, besides nothing worse than a small town with more “bored” officers than it really needs.
” Yes, but police officers don’t work 24/7. They have to sleep, same as anyone else.
How many on active duty at any one time? A third at most? “
That is true, and a couple to cover days off.
I guess the criminals now know where to go for easy pickin’s.
The primary responsibility of the full-time officer was to follow the school buses around twice a day to make sure everybody followed the rules about stopped school buses. And that was just what everybody wanted. When an officer left, it was usually because of boredom, or they found a full-time position in a larger town.
They don’t need 3 cops a shift.
Hell...the entire county of Mayberry only had one sheriff and a deputy.
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