The Safety and Licensing Committee met 03/27/2024. During that meeting they received the 2023 Annual Report for the Police Department.
Police Chief Polly Olson highlighted some of the areas of the report.
- The Police Department received over $300,000 in grant funding to support programs related to OWI enforcement, methamphetamine and heroin issues, and traffic safety.
- They received over $53,000 in donations to support the canine program.
- The front desk staff received over 62,000 calls on the non-emergency lines in 2023 which prevented the burden of taking those calls from being placed on the Sheriff’s Department.
- Officers handled over 64,000 calls for service including over 13,000 traffic stops and more than 600 OWI arrests.
- Overall major crimes decreased, with a significant drop in burglaries; however, weapons complaints remained steady 59.
- There were 2 homicide, 10 suicides, and 12 overdose deaths.
- Mental health detentions were trending downward as alternative solutions are being utilized.
- Officer wellness remained a priority with mandated clinician check-ins and team building activities.
- Special events continued to increase and the department processed 102 special event permits in 2023.
- School resource officers focused on relationship building, prioritizing addressing behaviors early to divert students away from the criminal justice system and seeking alternatives to punitive outcomes.
- Officers used force during only 85 of the over 64,000 calls they received for service. 68 of those instances involved the officer merely using a decentralization technique.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
There were some questions about drug use. Alderperson William Siebers (District 1) asked if there was a specific drug that more commonly was causing overdoses. Chief Olson said that when the Police Department became privy to that data, it most likely ended up being fentanyl, but the county coroner’s office was the office that would have that data, not the Police Department.
Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) asked about the decline in crimes that were typically related to drug use. Chief Olson said it was surprising to see a decrease in property crimes given that there had not been a decrease in drug-related crimes because, generally speaking, property crimes were driven by people trying to feed their drug addiction.
She went on to say that the Police Department had one investigator assigned to the multi-county drug unit, and that officer was very busy. If there were enough resources to add officers to that unit, there would be value in that; however, if the Police Department had the funds to add more staff those officers would have to go to the patrol unit simply as a matter of priority.
They also discussed staffing levels. The department had two teams of 30 officers each, so 60 officers total to patrol the city’s three districts. During the peak hours of 3PM to 3AM, there were generally around 12 officers on patrol throughout the city, though that number could reach 15. Outside of peak hours, the minimum number of patrol officers on duty dropped to 6.
Alderperson Siebers asked if 12 officers was adequate to which Chief Olson replied, “Oh, it’s not adequate, but it’s what we have.”
Currently, officers only have every other weekend off and are required to work on alternating weekends. Alderperson Siebers asked if adding additional officers would allow officers to have to work fewer weekends, but Chief Olson said it would not. “[W]e would raise our minimum staffing to provide just an increased service to the community where I think needs to happen. The every other weekend, I think would still happen, but we would probably see some relief in our forced overtime, certainly, and be a little bit more accommodating for time off request instead of denying them due to staffing.”
Alderperson Siebers asked about gang activity in Appleton and was told by Chief Olson that they were not seeing gang activity like they had in the past. She was sure there was still gang activity, but it didn’t seem to be influencing criminal behavior the way it had in the past.
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) asked about officer wellness. Chief Olson said they wanted to maintain their funding source to be able to continue to provide regular check-ins by officers with a clinician. Additionally, they tried to provide one-off opportunities like having someone (many times a volunteer) come in and provide on-site massages, conduct a stretch lab, or lead a yoga class. In was also important for the department to maintain its fitness equipment.
Alderperson Van Zeeland asked about the belts that police officers wore and said she had heard they were very heavy. She wondered if there was better equipment available.
Chief Olson said they were exploring some load bearing vest gear. Unfortunately, unless they were able to get some grant money, they would need to have the officers pay for their own vest carriers. There were benefits to the new vests that they were looking at. “[It] actually contains a pocket that the rifle plate could just slide into and out of. So, some officers could actually choose to wear it all of the time during their shift to give them extra protection. Or if they would choose not to, then they could very easily slip it in and out in any type of active shooter situation that would require it. The gear that we have right now is very, very heavy. It’s very difficult for officers to put on especially over the top of all the rest of the gear that they’re wearing. So, we’re trying to find alternative solutions to that.”
[So, if anyone had any extra money lying around and is feeling philanthropic, it sounds like the Appleton Police Department could use some donations to cover the cost of new vests.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1147960&GUID=F16F0740-9157-4626-A3AF-D23A26F1CB7D
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