Fitchburg Police and Fire Commission Meeting - October 15, 2025

The Fitchburg Police and Fire Commission met on October 15, 2025, to approve minutes, receive monthly reports from the Fire and Police Departments, enter closed session for personnel matters, and take related personnel actions. No public appearances were made for non-agenda items.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the October 7, 2025 Police and Fire Commission minutes by voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public appeared for public appearances on non-agenda items.

Fire Department Staff Report

• Fire Chief Gero reported a 2% increase in September calls for service and projected 2025 call volume could exceed 2024 by 2-4%.
• A career firefighter who received a contingent offer has completed the background process; the chief expects good news next week. The department processed the September retirement of Paid-on-Call Division Chief Steve Wunsch.
• Recruitment continues: applications were pulled for paid-on-call battalion chief and firefighter positions; 11 firefighter interview offers were extended, with 9 confirmed, and 9 battalion chief interviews were scheduled.
• September overtime was 449 hours, down from 632 hours last September, but year-to-date overtime has already surpassed 2024 levels and significantly exceeded the budgeted overtime amount even after accounting for remaining paid-on-call salary surplus. Five mandates in September totaled 64 hours; additional mandates have already occurred in October. Hunting season PTO makes this a challenging time of year, and strategies are being developed for 2026.

Police Department Staff Report

• The department has four vacancies: one lieutenant and one sergeant created during reorganization, plus two police officer vacancies. Once the reorganization is completed, the police officer vacancy count is expected to go from two to four. A police officer hiring process will run in November, with interviews the first week of December.
• For the first time in three years, no officers are in the law enforcement academy, field training, or restricted duty; previously up to 18-20 officers were unavailable. This improves street staffing.
• Monthly activity included more than 1,000 citizen-generated calls and more than 1,100 officer-initiated calls, down 9 from the prior month. Compared with September 2024, citizen-generated calls were down by over 170 and officer-initiated calls by 162. The department also reported one burglary and four vehicle reports.
• There were no reports of shootings or shots fired in September. The chief said the department works with the ATF on gun-related investigations and recovers firearms. Shots-fired cases are down 50%, and domestic cases are down more than 30 percentage points. The domestic violence team focuses on repeat offenders.
• The chief noted that per-capita gun activity and domestic cases had previously placed Fitchburg in the top five with cities such as Racine and Milwaukee, but current reductions are bringing the numbers in line with a city of Fitchburg's population size. The mayor dislikes describing Fitchburg as having a high per-capita crime rate.
• Traffic stops and monitoring are increasing for a second year, based on data, citizen complaints, and alderperson complaints, but traffic crashes have not yet declined. The department wants to add crash-location data and focus enforcement on high-crash areas; captains are working on a plan. A commissioner asked about demographic data on traffic stops; the chief confirmed the department has it, last presented it at the request of Albert Maldonado, and can present updated data again.
• The chief agreed that traffic safety requires enforcement, education, and engineering, and noted the city's monthly traffic safety meeting. Some alderpersons favor speed bumps on every corner, but the chief said that is not necessarily the right choice. A commissioner asked about a missing speed limit sign on Lacy Road toward the expressway; the chief had no installation date and noted enforcement in that area in late August and September.

Closed Session

• The commission moved into closed session under Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(c) to consider employment, promotion, compensation, and performance evaluations, specifically a conditional offer for detective sergeant and shift lieutenant, an eligibility list for shift lieutenant, a sergeant recruitment process, and removal of one police officer's probationary status.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the October 7, 2025 minutes.
• Logan Brown was moved to shift lieutenant, and the chief was directed to establish a shift lieutenant eligibility list through 2026.
• Ariana Ridgley was moved to detective sergeant.
• Matthew Spry was moved from probationary status to police officer.
• The chief was directed to start a sergeant recruitment process.
• All closed-session personnel actions were approved by voice votes without recorded opposition.

Announcements

• Construction activity has begun for the new police facility across the street; machines are on site and fencing is up.

The meeting then adjourned.