Silver Lake approves contract with Sheriff’s Dept. for police protection

kcsd-and-slpd-doors-combinedThe Silver Lake Village Board at a special meeting Thursday night approved a contract with the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department for extra police protection.

The new service is expected to begin June 18 if additional approvals at the County Board level are received, Sheriff David Beth said after the meeting.

The designated patrol from the Sheriff’s Department will replace the Silver Lake Police Department, which will close as a result of tonight’s action.

Highlights of the contract approved Thursday include:

  • 16.5 hours of patrol and related law enforcement services per day.
  • The initial contract will be for approximately 18 months since it is being started midyear. Subsequent contracts will be for one year running from January through December.
  • The contract will have an initial monthly cost of $22,923.25 or $275,079 for 12 months.
  • The Sheriff’s Department will not provide water patrol under the contract. Village President Bruce Nopenz said the village plans to have its own part-time water patrol this summer.

Nopenz explained the contract includes flexibility on when the patrol will take place. For example, initially the shifts will be set so that there is a village deputy on patrol when bars close in the summer months. But there is some thought that there should be a deputy at Riverview School during drop off time for the school year. The contract allows for a shift in the hours patrolled to accommodate that.

The next regular Village Board meeting is May 20, but Nopenz said he felt the special meeting to consider the contract was justified.

“We wanted to get it discussed, moving forward and finalized,” said Nopenz, who promised more special village board meetings to deal with pressing issues.

Nopenz said the Committee of the Whole meeting May 6 was lightly attended despite the contract being on the agenda. He interprets that as meaning people are satisfied with the sheriff’s department proposal.

“They’ve heard enough about what the plan was,’ Nopenz said.

 Here is a copy of the unsigned contract (supplied by Sheriff David Beth).

 

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7 Comments

  1. Bernard Punsley says:

    How refreshing to see the entire village board, working TOGETHER for the benefit of ALL of the village. This bodes well for future tasks that the board envisions for our village, some difficult decisions to be made, no doubt, but I believe that not only are our board members up to the task, they have the support of the voters as well. I wish our SLPD officers the best of luck as they pursue their law enforcement careers with the KCSD. A “win-win” for all!

  2. Sl Goverment says:

    A big win for the Village of Silver Lake and the police officers. The voters are very happy with the new board. So on to the next big issue.

  3. Ralph Jankovic says:

    Good luck to the Silver Lake police I am sure Sheriff Beth will be impressed.

  4. Bernard Punsley says:

    This was a “seamless” transition, supported by the entire board, and most of the community, INCLUDING our police officers. We will see many of them on patrol in the near future, wearing a brown uniform instead of a blue one. Their dedication and committment to our community will continue. I am impressed with the way our new leadership team took the initiative on this issue. Knowing they face many more tough decisions, not only do they need the support of the community, they have it! For sure, they have their detractors, but at times, their silence is deafening!

  5. Concerned Citizen says:

    I think our fire department should be the next order of business for the board to improve upon, including the implementation of paramedics in our village. This is long overdue, one of those issues that the previous board continued to “put on the back burner”. Time to move on this issue.

  6. Better With Bernie says:

    I must say that I am impressed with what I have seen so far with the current board. I like that fact that they tell the citizens what they are doing and then actually do it in open meetings – no hiding like the past.
    With an improvement in policing and saving the money that we are, it is now high time we improved public safety with a change to paramedic ambulance service. I actually know of people who have driven to Salem when they need an ambulance so that they get the best care available. Silver Lake Rescue refuses to upgrade.
    Time for a change.

  7. Comments Still Stifled-Delayed says:

    Comments still are not being posted in a timely fashion. Some folks like to read the comments, some folks like to post them. It appears that the editors’ interest has fallen off.

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