The Gillett Police Department got the go-ahead Thursday from the Gillett Common Council to hire a part-time police officer.
The new hire will be Jason Fischer, a Pulaski High School graduate who is certified in law enforcement by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Fischer was employed part time by the Gillett Police Department from May 2009 to January 2011 and worked in the Lena Police Department from January 2011 to January 2014.
His wage will be $12 per hour.
With the hire of Fischer, Gillett has five part-time officers, two full-time officers and a police chief.
Gillett alderman candidate Mark Bloemers spoke against the hire.
“There are too many cops in the town now,” he said. “It will involve wages and benefits the city cannot afford.”
Gillett Police Chief Jess Keplinger pointed out part-time officers are paid an hourly wage, not salary and benefits.
“If we had one or 50, it wouldn’t matter. The city only puts so much in the budget,” he said.
Keplinger uses part-time officers on a fill-in basis when full-time employees are unavailable, due to vacation time or training seminars.
“Scheduling is a nightmare,” he said. “These (part-time) guys have full-time jobs somewhere else. We’re trying to get ahead of the game if we lose an officer.”
Fischer also works for the Dairy Business Association in Green Bay.
The request to hire an officer was made after the department learned part-time officer Lee Posusta received a conditional offer as a part-time officer in Oconto Falls, effective May 1, pending a psychological and medical examination.
Posusta was hired by the Gillett Police Department in November, shortly after his release from a probationary warden position with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Lakewood.
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