Changing of the Guard: Tosa Police Department 'In Transition'

On paper, the Wauwatosa Police Department began 2013 fully staffed.

On the streets, no Wauwatosa citizen would think it otherwise. There are officers patrolling the roads and staffing the schools at all times, ready to respond.

But as of this week, the true situation for the department is far from steady or stable — and no one is more aware of it than its leaders.

Wauwatosa police are down 10 officers from their normal full complement, thanks to a series of departures whose replacements are hired but not yet ready to take on an officer's full duties.

What's more, from the chief on down, waves of imminent retirements have and will continue to change the makeup of the department — and challenge those filling the shoes of departing veterans.

"We're very much in a state of a juggling act right now," said Capt. Jeff Sutter, who is in charge of operations. "We won't stabilize until the middle of 2014."

A year of heroism, tragedy and exit strategies

The daunting math of 2013 staffing began in 2012, a year that for many reasons the Wauwatosa Police Department will never allow itself to forget.

The usual load of policing an urban community was critically punctuated by two terrible tragedies.

On Oct. 21, Wauwatosa police officers swarmed to the aid of their brothers and sisters in Brookfield when Radcliffe Haughton went on a murderous shooting spree in Azana Salon and Spa. Nine Wauwatosa officers — more even than Brookfield's own — were commended for their selfless courage that day.

On Christmas Eve morning, there was no such chance for heroics — only a terrible grief, masked by extraordinary diligence in bringing to justice the killer of Officer Jennifer Sebena.

Behind those scenes, seven veterans of the force were going to retire. Hiring and training of their replacements was under way.

"The loss of Jen was, of course, unexpected," Sutter said. "But as the other retirements came up, we worked really hard to keep on track."

Sebena was, in fact, quickly replaced by a trained, ready officer. But that was, in effect, a shift of paper. That officer had been slated to fill the next retirement slot, which came immediately.

And, try as they might, the department couldn't, and wouldn't, push through new recruits fast enough to put its paper officers on the real streets.

"We started out (2013) 'full,' but four of those officers are still in training," Sutter said. "As far as bodies on the streets, they're meaningless to me."

Captains and recruits

On Monday, Capt. Dale Weiss, in charge of administration, retired after more than 30 years.

Again, on paper, his loss as a sworn officer has been replaced — by a recruit officer out of academy and still in field training.

With Weiss' retirement, 10 officers "on the force" are in fact not on patrol, and some aren't even close. Two are still in the department's own "recruit school."

It takes a long time to make a police officer, and especially a Wauwatosa police officer.

"Field training is 16 weeks, and that's a best-case scenario," Sutter said. "They are never let out early, and they are often kept in longer, for a variety of reasons.

"There are four steps they have to complete, types of situations they have to face, and if they don't confront them — or don't deal with them — they are not moving on."

The making of a professional police officer

Jennifer Sebena is an example of what goes into making a highly qualified officer. She had been "on the force" for two years at the time of her death. But she was hired while she was still a standout student in the MATC Police Academy.

After finishing academy, Sebena entered Wauwatosa's 11-week recruit school, then began her 16-week field training. She was injured, though, and that led to a lengthy extension.

Finally a probationary officer, Sebena was still limited to riding with a veteran officer.

It was only in July 2012 that she finished her probationary period and became a full-fledged officer who could patrol solo. But even then she faced a last hurdle. New officers are not allowed to solo on the challenging third shift until they've proved themselves on days.

Jennifer Sebena at last arrived at full status Nov. 28 when she began her assignment to the third shift in the squad area including the Village. Less than a month later, she was dead.

No price can possibly be put on her life, but her tragic loss must also be seen in a chill, practical light – her training represented a tremendous investment lost with her.

Pool of those qualified is growing shallow

Four more Wauwatosa police officers have announced plans to retire this year. Six others are eligible for retirement but haven't announced their plans.

Aside from the fact that they and those already recently gone represent centuries of experience, the positions they leave open are approaching a critical mass in the recruiting process – a situation Sutter has never had to face before.

"We are very likely to exhaust our viable candidates before all of our positions are filled," Sutter said. "Going into the year, we had 19 candidates 'eligible to hire.' Of the top 14, five have been hired, and six failed background checks or took jobs elsewhere.

"We are right on the fence about whether we're going to get by with the candidates we feel are qualified or if we're going to have to look again into that pool."

The Wauwatosa Police Department has notably high standards and wants to keep it that way. For Sutter to even discuss lowering those standards for qualified hires clearly grieves him. But there are realities he can't help but face.

"For the past six or seven years, I'd say, we've seen a steady decline in qualified candidates," he said, "and a steady in the number who can't be hired.

"You could almost say no one wants this job," Sutter said. "Bunches do, but whole bunches aren't qualified."

Retirement taking a toll on top ranks

Consider also who has left, and who is leaving, along with who is coming in.

The Wauwatosa Police Department is a fairly lean hierarchy. At the top is the police chief, Barry Weber. Below him are two captains, one in charge of police operations, the other administration.

Beneath them are lieutenants, in charge of shifts and divisions. A lieutenant is in charge of the Investigation Bureau. A lieutenant is in charge of training.

As mentioned, Capt. Weiss has just retired. Eligible to retire, but unannounced, are both Chief Weber and Capt. Sutter.

Gone or going are Lt. Dennis Davidson – commanding the Investigative Bureau – and Detective Sgt. Dan Collins.

"The entire Detective Bureau supervisory staff left in a month," Sutter said.

Lt. Randy Scott retired in January. Leaving this year are another lieutenant, a sergeant, another deputy and one patrol officer.

"We're trying to right the ship," Sutter said. "But we're really just treading water until we can ease people into these jobs.

"If I would fill everything at once, there would be nobody left on the road."

Filling in the gaps, top to bottom

To "right the ship," Sutter is already making tough calls.

Sgt. Jeff Farina is a veteran who was among those highly commended for the job he did at Azana Spa. He rescued a wounded woman from the salon, carried her to medical care, returned and took over command of the incident.

Farina, a longtime patrol sergeant who has long since earned his place on the day shift, now finds himself transferred back to the third shift.

It will be temporary, but indefinite.

"I have four 'baby sergeants,'" Sutter said. "Transitioning that many at once (into supervisory roles) would be impossible, not to say irresponsible.

"These are all good, capable people who've earned their promotions, but I can't put a brand-new sergeant in charge of the third shift. So I have to put Farina there."

And so it goes down the line. One of those newly minted sergeants is Luke Vetter. He too earned both Valor and Life Saving medals at Azana Spa. But he'll still have to prove himself as a supervisor, and in the meantime, he takes with him his 12 years as a patrol officer.

Those 12-year-old shoes will be filled by a rookie.

Just retired as a patrol officer is Randy Simon, a motorcycle officer.

"Randy is no spring chicken," Sutter said, "but he's one of the toughest cops I've ever met. He works that motorcycle like nobody else."

In one interview last fall, Sutter referred to grizzled old Randy Simon as "a real stud." He was talking about Simon's role at Azana Spa – charging in and up the stairs to rescue terrified women with nothing but his pistol.

Tough, time-tested Randy Simon's replacement is still in field training.

Piling up duties, dipping into overtime

Sutter is, by all this, not saying that Wauwatosa is receiving any less than fully professional police service – now. But he's just as clearly worried.

As officers at all ranks move up and around to fill different roles, any gaps have to be plugged by putting extra duty on the remaining veterans. To top it off, the department lost two positions in this year's budget, one sworn officer and a civilian clerk.

The officer position eliminated was that of Howard Bacon III who, among other things, was the department's rangemaster.

"Others are inheriting those duties, adding to their responsibiities," Sutter said.

And of course, there are hard costs, financial ones, attached to all of this. Filling the biggest and most obvious gap – 10 patrol officers who are hired but can't patrol – means qualified officers work overtime.

"Absolutely, positively, there are overtime issues," Sutter said. "We have not gone to the Common Council yet to ask for an increase in the overtime budget – but we've alerted the city that we almost certainly will be asking. We just don't know when."

The bright side of the budget coin, Sutter said, is that there are so many vacant positions, those salaries and their associated benefits are available to caulk the seams.

The budget challenges may loom, too, but for Sutter, the critical job is about putting qualified people on the street and in the divisions. And for the time being, that, as he said, is "a juggling act."