Exclusive look: After 6 officers resign, what's going on in Big Bend?
BIG BEND, Wis. (CBS 58) -- One more officer is leaving Big Bend, bringing the number of resignations in the department to six following a failed attempt by the village board to disband the entire force. Michele Fiore sat down with one of the six in an exclusive interview you will only see on CBS 58.
We talked for an hour, asking the now-former head of the Big Bend Professional Police Association, "Why the mass exodus? How did officers come together after their beloved chief passed away?" And "What is the department looking like now with only one full-time and two part-time patrol officers?"
"If you asked us three months ago, I don't think any of us said we'd be leaving Big Bend right now," said Nate Schweitzer, one of six resigning Big Bend police officers.
The pay is low and there's no health insurance, but the tradeoff made it ok.
"A lot of days we're out doing crossing guard and we're talking to the schools and we're just waving at people mowing their lawns," said Schweitzer, who said they also respond to calls like any other department.
Another plus was working for a great guy who the community also liked and respected. It's Chief Don Gaglione, and officers heard a lot of great stories about him from community members after the chief passed away.
"People were saying, you know, this happened to me and he was really good about it. But not only that, he came and checked in on me later. I mean that's just something that you don't have everywhere," said Schweitzer.
In September, the Big Bend Village Board voted swiftly and without warning to disband the department.
"It's a slap in the face. If you're gonna try to get rid of the police department or you're even exploring the option, just say that, 'hey, we need to save some money,'" said Schweitzer.
Schweitzer says the vote came as a shock, especially to Chief Gaglione.
"And that hit him hard. It's not easy for anyone to just find out you're being dissolved. You know I don't think he was thinking of himself as much as he was thinking of the rest of us," said Schweitzer.
However, Big Bend's intention to share the cost of getting police services from Waukesha County failed in October when the Village of Vernon voted no. A week later, Chief Gaglione passed away.
"I think everyone was doubled down on their energy. You know, we're gonna be the best we can be for chief, but man did the wind just get taken out of our sails every time we had any contact with the board," said Schweitzer.
Although Big Bend ultimately gave police another one-year contract, the board has now taken steps to do away with their police and fire commission following the chief's death.
"If something as major as that isn't gonna, you know, make them change, there's nothing that's gonna make them change until they're voted out of office," said Schweitzer.
Waukesha County will now also be taking on more responsibility if and until Big Bend can replace the five officers who turned in their resignation letters, plus Officer Rebecca Carpenter, whose resignation this week now makes the department down six officers.
"But I doubt the sheriff's department is super excited about handling all these extra calls because the village of Big Bend is having a meltdown and can't staff their shifts," said Schweitzer.
"At the end of the day, every person that left Big Bend or is still involved in it, still cares about Big Bend deeply. We don't want the department to go away. We don’t want the residents to not have protection," said Schweitzer.
Schweitzer's floated an idea to the board on how to restructure the department that would allow officers to get health insurance. He thinks that might attract candidates to the now six open positions.
"I'm like man, I wish chief was around where I could say, what do you think? What would you do? He just had that knowledge and that experience. He was just a really great guy," said Schweitzer.
Thursday night, Jan. 4, is the first Big Bend Village Board meeting since the resignation of those six officers.