Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories drawn from recent interviews with Shawano County sheriff candidates Randy Wright and Adam Bieber.
Both candidates for Shawano County sheriff believe the department’s K9 unit should be funded by the county rather than a private group, but only one of them is vowing to make it a budgeted item even if he has to make cuts elsewhere.
“If we’re not fully funding the K9 unit, we’re not doing our number one job,” said Adam Bieber, who is challenging incumbent Randy Wright in the Aug. 12 Republican primary.
He said the K9 unit is law enforcement’s top tool for drug detection and search and rescue and shouldn’t be left to a private group to pay for it, with deputies often involved in fundraising efforts.
“I don’t like it that they’re out doing bake sales, dunk tanks, golf outings,” he said. “That’s one thing I’m going to fight for is money to be budgeted for the K9.”
Wright agrees the K9 unit should be in the budget, if the Sheriff’s Department could find the money to pay for it.
“You’ve got 89 percent of your budget that you’ve got little or no control over such as wages, benefits, heat, gas, water, utilities. You’ve got 11 percent to work with,” he said.
“I could probably say, ‘Let’s put them into the budget,’ but then that $20,000 to $30,000 a year that would go toward that — what other program is going to suffer because that’s going to be going there?” Wright said. “It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Supporters of Shawano K9 Inc., a nonprofit, community-run organization, have been raising funds for the unit for six years.
President John LaShua said he would love to see funding for the K9 unit taken out of the group’s hands and put into the Sheriff’s Department budget.
“That’s where it belongs,” he said.
LaShua said he has gone before the county’s Public Safety Committee on two occasions, most recently early last year, to ask for additional money for the Sheriff’s Department to fund the K9 unit.
“Both times they said no,” LaShua said.
LaShua said he was joined by Wright on both occasions.
“He’s one of our major contributors,” LaShua said, adding that Wright also participates in fundraising events. “He would fully like to see it funded (by the county).”
Bieber said if he can’t get the additional funding from the County Board he would look at other places in the budget to cut, with an eye first on Sheriff’s Department squads.
“I’m going to take a look at take-home squad cars,” he said.
Bieber said he sees the reason why deputies living outside the city might need take-home squads, but he is skeptical of the need for those living within the city, as well as for those in administration.
He said the sheriff and chief deputy don’t need take-home squads.
“Those two guys right there are not doing traffic stops,” Bieber said, adding the same applies to the captain.
“Every now and then they’ll go to a call,” Bieber said. “Can they go to a call with their personal vehicle? Yes. If the K9 isn’t funded, I’ll be the first one to give up my squad car.”
Wright called those the comments of someone who doesn’t realize what the job entails.
“To me that’s somebody talking who’s just not experienced,” he said.
“I do go on calls. I do make traffic stops,” Wright said, adding that the same applied to the chief deputy and captain. “We have to have quick response.”
According to information provided by the Sheriff’s Department, Wright responded to 81 service calls and made three traffic stops between Jan. 1, 2013, and June 30 of this year.
Chief Deputy John Gutho responded to 29 service calls and made one traffic stop during that same time frame, while Capt. Tom Tuma responded to 94 calls and made one traffic stop.
Wright said the numbers are actually higher because he, Gutho and Tuma often assist on calls, assist motorists and make stops without calling dispatch.
Also, according to the Sheriff’s Department, Wright and three deputies are the only four out of 10 living in the city that have take-home squads.
“This is a contracted issued,” Wright said. “Those who want a take-home have to live in a (designated) living area. Those who do not, drive into the office to pick up a squad.”
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