First Year of CSO Program a Success

Brandon Ernst and Nick Sharon have been easy to spot this summer in the area parks.

The two Waukesha community service officers wore bright uniforms that commanded authority for their positions without carrying guns while they roamed through the parks keeping the community areas free of open intoxicants, dogs and even a nudist in , which they both said in unison was the strangest thing they saw all summer.

“Honestly, I had no idea of what to expect,” Sharon said about the pilot program. The new program that started this year recently came to the end for the summer of 2011.

Their typical day was working from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. biking through the community and talking with people in the area.

“Usually we will hit up some of the main parks – Horeb, Frame and Buchner,” Ernst said.

“There have been a lot of people there, and there have been issues in the past,” Sharon explained.

The had to gain approval from the Common Council to allow the non-sworn community service officers to have the ability to write tickets in the park. The council voted to change the city ordinances.

Sharon and Ernst issued 10 citations this summer for open intoxicants, mobile vendors in the park, juveniles in possession of tobacco products and possession of fireworks. Additional handicapped traffic citations and parking tickets were given by the two CSOs.

“We started off giving quite a few advisories,” Sharon said. “We wanted to make our presence known and let people know that we are out there and we are not just cracking down on people right off the bat.”

The first violation would be a warning, Ernst said, but when they observed individuals repeating the offense a second or third time, they issued tickets.

The community service officers also put nine abandoned bicycles and one wallet into the police department’s inventory and warned 41 people about dogs being prohibited from city parks.

“They said that was a major issue,” Ernst said. “We came across a lot of dogs, but not as many as I expected.”

Both community service officers said they have seen a difference in the parks as they patrolled throughout the summer. Overall, the program went smoothly, they said, more smooth than expected.

“Usually they were very appreciative,” Ernst said about people’s reactions. “Even the people that we ended up stopping for drinking or dogs, they were very appreciative and happy that we are out there and having a presence in the parks.”

How it started

With increased calls to the city parks draining officer resources, Police Chief Russell Jack decided to ask the Waukesha Common Council to implement the community service officer program in a cost effective way to increase patrols, said Sgt. Kevin Rice who was tasked with the program. Instead of hiring on full-time officers at a greater expense, the city police department was able to carefully design the uniforms for optimum safety and hire Ernst and Sharon for the summer.

“I had high hopes for the program, and it exceeded my hopes,” Rice said.

The Common Council approved $9,500 for the 2011 summer during the budget process last fall. The police department was $58 shy of spending that budget, Rice said.

“We were within budget,” Rice said. “The Parks and Recreation Department was totally satisfied with them. I think our guys embraced the CSOs. It didn’t take long for those guys were part of our department.”

The council will be asked to increase spending for the program in 2012 to $11,500, Rice said, to dedicate more hours to patrol the parks.

Both Ernst and Sharon have plans to become police officers, so the program was “a foot in the door,” Rice said. The premise behind the program was to hire young people looking for a career in law enforcement. The police department was able to mentor the future officers through the program.

And their work this summer didn’t just get them noticed by the police department. Rice said he heard a great review from Mary Palmer, who is the facilities coordinator with the Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

“She was totally, totally thrilled with Brandon and Nick,” Rice said. “They did a great job.”