By John Gittings
WiscNews
Law enforcement and emergency response is a calling, but it’s one fewer people seem to hear.
From changes in police academy training to fewer applicants in general, police chiefs in Baraboo and Portage have needed to find ways to keep officers while also recruiting new ones. The same goes for firefighters and paramedics, some of whom work as volunteers or are paid per call.
The rural setting itself is not necessarily a hindrance.
“For some officers, working close to home, serving their community and raising a family in a small-town environment is more enticing than a larger city department where there may be more opportunities, more pay, etc., and also more challenges, like increased commuting, staff burnout, and where they may not know everyone and connecting to a larger community as a whole is more difficult,” Lake Delton Police Chief Eric Thunberg said in an email.
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Some changes in policing and emergency response that have challenged departments large and small.
As an example, Portage Police Chief Keith Klafke said, the required number of police academy training hours has nearly doubled in the past 30 years, from 400 to 720 hours.
The applicant pool for police officer positions is larger in bigger cities than in smaller communities, Thunberg noted, but recruiting challenges are similar because larger departments can have more openings at once and department turnover is sometimes high because of officer fatigue.
“Officers are people too, and their reasons for moving on carry a lot of similarities not dissimilar to staff turnover in other industries,” he said.
“Some applicants are driven by location, others by wages, benefits, incentives, opportunities like specialized programs or promotional opportunities,” Klafke said.
Rural departments aren’t standing still and shrugging their shoulders in the face of those challenges.
Regionalization of fire and emergency response has stretched departments further outside of their original jurisdictions but also has allowed municipalities to save money and receive needed services.
Negative effects of regionalization include potential burnout, longer response distances and increased call volumes, Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District Chief Caleb Johnson said.
But positives include helping smaller agencies remain viable, offering more consistent staffing and training opportunities, and reducing duplication of calls to different departments.
Portage Fire Rescue Assistant EMS Chief Cody Doucette said his department has increased staff to handle larger workloads and prevent burnout. After the department took over paramedic duties in Pardeeville last year after taking over two Columbia County townships the year before, three new cross-trained firefighters/paramedics were hired.
Portage Fire Rescue officials did not want to ask staff to “do more with less” after taking over Pardeeville, he said.
The department’s 24 full-time staff members are all cross-trained as firefighters and paramedics, he said. It also has 17 pay-per-call firefighters and four high school-aged cadets training to become firefighters.
Departments increasingly are seeing social media as a marketing tool.
The Baraboo Police Department is starting a social media internship this spring for Baraboo High School students to manage the department’s website and social media. Department chief Justin Carloni did not respond to request for comment for this article but previously said an improved social media presence can help with retention and recruitment.
The Portage Police Facebook page highlights officer achievements, Klafke said, and the department has a “desired work atmosphere” that has caused word of mouth to bring officers in.
“For districts like ours, recruitment starts with community engagement and visibility,” Johnson said. “People are far more likely to join when they understand what we do and how vital the service is to public safety. This includes outreach through schools, community events, ride‑along opportunities and social media.”
Kalfke and Doucette emphasized investing in employees. The police chief said maintaining competitive wages and benefits while letting officers have a voice in operations helps keep officers in the community.
Proper equipment, maintenance and training are also key for retention and recruitment, Doucette added. Portage Fire Rescue also emphasizes health among staff, which includes on-site workouts and making annual appointments with first responder mental health specialists.
“They’re not just speaking to some therapist who has never done what we do,” he said. “We want to make sure they are physically and mentally capable and ready.”
Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District is still awaiting the fate of proposed new fire stations, which Johnson said would help attract staff and provide better facilities, particularly with chemical management from fire equipment and soot and other material from blazes. Improved operations in that regard would improve firefighter health, he said.
Doucette said his department hopes to implement a lighter hourly workload, following Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District, whose union chapter, International Association of Firefighters Local 5429, successfully negotiated a 42-hour work week for its full-time, cross-trained staff, Lt. Spencer Nett said.
Nett said his chapter was the first to do so in Wisconsin.
Johnson and Doucette both said pay is important but is only part of what keeps staff. They added that modern equipment, training opportunities, strong leadership and camaraderie are crucial to maintaining their services.
They also said that volunteer and pay-per-call firefighters cannot commit to department duties like they could in recent decades because of increased work and family obligations.
“Addressing responder recruitment and retention requires a combination of community support, sustainable funding, strong leadership, flexibility and recognition of the evolving realities facing today’s first responders,” Johnson said.
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