Salem traffic patrol suspended

Town Board decision puts fate of department on hold for 30 days

By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent

After the Salem Town Board dropped out of WISE Grant program at an Aug. 8 regular meeting, the board returned for a special meeting Monday, voting unanimously to suspend all traffic patrols by the town’s Public Safety department.

While Salem Town Supervisor Dan Campion participated by phone, colleague Ted Kmiec stated the decision comes after the department lost Michael Josua Ventura in a fatal accident in July.

“After we lost Officer Ventura, we had an administrative suspension of the traffic patrol,” Kmiec said. “We need to decide what’s next.”

“If the merger happens, we would already have a contract with the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and would need to talk to Sheriff (David) Beth, since we would be adding 12,000 people to that contract,” Kmiec continued.

Kmiec, who is an attorney, said he would be in favor of a modified contract with the Sheriffs Department, rather than attempting to start a new police department from scratch.

“I’m often on the other side of the table in court but I have a high regard for the department. They are very professional.”

Kmiec made a motion, seconded by Campion, to put the traffic enforcement issue on hold for 30 days while the town held talks with Sheriff Beth.

Supervisor Dennis Faber said he was not opposed to delaying the program for 30 days but, he said, “I understood that we would still provide a presence at the schools during the school day.”

He mentioned speeding issues at Salem Grade and Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated schools.

Beth, who was present at the meeting, responded to Faber’s question about how many county patrol cars are usually patrolling in the area.

“It depends on the time of day,” Beth said. “If there are no detectives out, there are usually a dozen cars.”

Beth said the majority of calls received by Kenosha County are from the Town of Salem, with the City of Kenosha second for number of calls. Most of the calls in Kenosha are handled by that city’s police department.

He also said if his department receives requests for patrols in particular areas, the department honors those. If needed, the sheriff’s department will patrol both schools.

The two mentioned concerns were near Salem Grade School on school days and Rock Lake Road.

Noting the potential merger with the Village of Silver Lake, which requires Department of Administration approval, Town Administrator Pat Casey was concerned about a long-term solution.

Casey said the concern was to write only one contract with Sheriff’s Department, after the merger, and that would be a long-term solution, not a solution for the interim.


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