Well, here we are: after all these years of hearing that the town fathers were descended from Olympus, to a city of their unsurpassable design, one hears the Whitewater Common Council discussing the sometime problem of public urination. Needless to say, I don’t support this foul habit, and have not met anyone who does. Confronted…
Police
Local Government, Police, Politics
The Buck Stops Locally (and Always Has)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Today, Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission will interview candidates for Whitewater’s next police chief. It’s been an in-house hiring process, and just three months ago some members of our PFC praised this approach over a consultant-driven method (as we had at the time of our last hiring). For Whitewater, and other places, the distinction between…
America, Local Government, Police
A Conventional, But Omitted, Question
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s looking for a new police chief, and has two candidates from which to choose. During a hiring process, it’s conventional to solicit community opinion on residents’ preferences and views on policing. Whitewater, expectedly, has done so, too. (There are, however, significant limitations with surveys of Whitewater’s kind, as I’ve noted. Whitewater’s method will produce…
City, Local Government, Police
A Job in a College Town
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s looking for a new police chief, and our small city has two candidates from which to choose. There’s a time to consider all this in greater detail; for today, two simple observations are enough. 1. Competency, Not Ideology, Has Always Been Key. Whitewater’s policing challenges have not been between left and right, or between…
City, Immigration, Local Government, Police
On Rumors
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater is a small town, with a population under fifteen thousand, approximately half of whom are college students. One of the advantages of being far smaller than Los Angeles or Atlanta should be the ease with which municipal leaders and law enforcement can meet and talk to residents. A person of average health and energy…
Police, Politics, Press, University
The Politics of Informants at UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a well-ordered community, there should be an accord between good policy and good politics. That’s not yet Whitewater, and this post will address the political implications of using confidential informants. (For a review of policy, please see yesterday’s How Rural Wisconsin Campuses Coerce Students into Becoming Drug Informants.) 1. Police Leadership. There’s almost no…
Police, University
How Rural Wisconsin Campuses Coerce Students into Becoming Drug Informants
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update: Here’s a post that I originally published this morning at a sister site, Daily Adams. The first paragraph is a description of the city for readers who may not be familiar with Whitewater (so it will sound a bit awkward to those who live in town). Thanks much to a sharp reader who pointed…
City, Local Government, Police
Lack of Diligence, Front and Center
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the fall, during the 11.6.13 Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission meeting, the PFC’s chairperson introduced a draft code of ethics and drafts of procedures for complaints and interviewing candidates for employment or promotion. I wrote about that meeting afterward, because the drafts were poorly written, and in the case of the procedures for…
Art, Police, Press Release, Wisconsin, Writing
27th Annual Wisconsin Troopers’ Association Art & Essay Contest
by JOHN ADAMS •
The 27th Annual Wisconsin Troopers’ Art & Essay Contest is accepting entries through February 15th. I have included the contest rules and an entry form immediately below. The forms are available for downloading and printing. Best of luck to all contestants.
City, Local Government, Police
Policies for the Police and Fire Commission
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission meets tonight at 5:30 PM, to interview patrol officers and consider several policy documents. Those documents appear below, and at the bottom of this post readers will find the video recording of last week’s PFC meeting. There are five processes or documents to be considered tonight: (1) PFC Oath (2)…
City, Local Government, Police
Police and Fire Commission Meeting for 11.6.13
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a Police and Fire Commission meeting tonight, at 6 PM. The PFC meets quarterly, but will meet twice this month, both tonight and (according to tonight’s agenda) again on Thursday, November 14th. There are three main parts of tonight’s meeting: (1) election for two PFC offices (a vice president and a secretary), (2) a…
Crime, Elkhorn, Health, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Police, Walworth County
The End of the Beginning
by JOHN ADAMS •
After a British victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein, Churchill famously observed of the war in November 1942 that ….Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning…. So it is, even locally, with the War on Drugs.…
City, Local Government, Planning, Police
Zoning Debates Are Often Just a Distraction from Failed Criminal Enforcement Strategies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the third post in a trilogy about residential housing in Whitewater. For the first two posts, see, Old Whitewater Dreams of a Student Rez and The University’s Role in Town-Gown Issues. Recap: (1) pointing to the northwest corner of the city for student rentals without actual, additional housing in that area is an empty solution, and (2) the university’s planned…
City, Local Government, Police
Common Council Session of 9.17.13: Police and Fire Commission Dismissal Proceedings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night’s Common Council session had a large agenda, including toward the end consideration of whether to appoint outside counsel for a possible complaint against a Police and Fire Commissioner. After a closed session of about seventy minutes, Council returned to open session and unanimously voted to authorize outside counsel to be hired for a…