MOSINEE, WI (WSAU) — The city of Mosinee recently partnered with the school district to add two school resource officers to its police force.
Mayor Brent Jacobson says this means all three of the district’s buildings now have a dedicated officer, something that he says is a benefit for the entire community besides offering a quick response if the unspeakable happens.
“It’s an opportunity to build relationships with students,” said Jacobson. “We’ve heard stories from parents who say [their kids] may have been heading down a wrong path but thanks to that SRO relationship they changed their life around.”
Jacobson adds that in his mind the SRO holds value to a student’s development in the same way that a teacher does, so it made sense to expand the department’s presence to all three buildings within the school district.
“It’s an added benefit that was are [multiplying] by three within our district. I think the taxpayer should feel very good about that,” said Jacobson.
They’ll also help the city’s police budget during the summer months by covering officer vacation time, decreasing the amount of overtime the city will have to pay out. Those hours will be billed entirely to the city.
The two new SROs are in addition to one new officer position which was created in the 2023 city budget, which Jacobson says has helped the city get up to FBI recommendations for staffing for a community like Mosinee. The additions, along with a recent property re-evaluation, caused many tax bills in the city to increase but he says he didn’t get many complaints about it.
“My goal is always no property tax increase. However, when it comes to public safety- especially like this, that’s one area where I hear from people that they don’t mind paying a little more [if it means] more public safety. Those are concerns that we addressed this year in the budget,” added Jacobson.
Other topics Jacobson discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- 2023 budget
6:50- Additional SROs
13:29- Update on the Cobblestone Hotel project
