Big Bend trustee who voted to disband police force discusses reason behind decision
BIG BEND, Wis, (CBS 58) -- In less than a week, Big Bend residents will have their first chance to publicly express their feelings about the board getting rid of their police department without warning.
We talked for the first time with a trustee on Friday, Sept. 29, who voted to disband the force.
Pages and pages of financial documents reveal the village's financial woes date back several years.
"People need to know what the facts are and why the people that voted the way they did, voted that way," said Big Bend trustee Larry Long.
A 2018 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report lists Big Bend creeping close to their debt ceiling.
The board's majority says the village could save $250,000 a year by sharing the cost of law enforcement with their neighbor, Vernon.
"And I, as a trustee, don't think I would be doing my job if I didn't seriously pursue that," said Long.
Residents say what's not being taken into account is the revenue Big Bend police add with fines, such as traffic tickets. The Big Bend Professional Police Association says that it brought about $119,000 last year, but Long refutes that. He says that in 2022, officers added only about $26,000.
"People are, they're not informed, or they're misinformed, or they're being provided false information," said Long.
The board voted on Sept. 7 to let go of the department's three full time and nine part time employees to take effect first of the year.
"And mind you, this is a village of less than fifteen hundred people. State statute says we don't even have to have a police force," said Long.
If Big Bend kept its own force in 2024, it would pay over $500,000 for it.
"You talk about a $1.5 million total budget for the village. Half a million of that is the police dept. We have debt service. You see that we're paying off at least $300,000 every year. So that's you talking $800,000. So that's more than half the entire budget," said Long.
Trustee Long says tight budgets kept them from doing repairs on streets that really need it, such as Edgewood Court.
"They're just terrible and they should've been done five years ago, but we just don't have the money to do it," said Long.
Still, other trustees say they have options.
"And looking at savings, I get it, but there's other places where we could cut the budget instead of our police department," Big Bend village trustee Traci Lewandowski told CBS 58 on Sept. 12.
The next Big Bend village board meeting is Oct. 5. Police supporters are expected to be there and speak out during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Long says it is possible that trustees will also discuss the police issue again.