Law Enforcement & EMS
Safety through local police and emergency response.
Police and EMS
Public safety does not stop at municipal boundaries. Waunakee’s police officers, firefighters, and EMS providers operate in a regional system whether we acknowledge it or not. Our policies and investments should reflect that reality.
Strengthening Regional EMS Partnerships
Waunakee has been progressive in how it approaches EMS, and that work needs to continue. Our ambulances regularly respond to calls in Middleton and Lodi. Middleton EMS also spends a significant amount of time responding in Waunakee. This level of integration is not a problem. It is an opportunity.
We should take a hard look at how these relationships are structured and whether deeper partnerships make sense. One idea worth serious evaluation is a jointly staffed EMS station between Middleton and Waunakee in the Westport area. That area has a growing concentration of senior housing and high call volume. Placing ambulances closer to where calls are generated improves response times and patient outcomes. It also reduces wear on equipment and crews who are otherwise driving longer distances back and forth. It also reduces the amount of time that our Waunakee ambulances are out of Waunakee.
This is not about turf. It is about putting resources where they are needed most.
Training for the Reality We Live In
We also need to be honest about the world we live in today. Mass shootings are more frequent than ever before. This is not abstract to me. I lost a close friend to gun violence when I was eighteen years old.
As a daytime firefighter, I am likely to be on the first fire engine responding to a school shooting in Waunakee. That means I am the person going into a building, carrying wounded children out, and handing them off to EMS. I take that responsibility seriously, and I want to know that when that day comes, I am prepared.
Why Joint Training Matters
In the past, Waunakee benefited from a Wisconsin Emergency Management Services grant that funded interagency active shooter training. That grant paid for planning, equipment, and overtime for police and EMS. Fire participated as well. Because the fire department is volunteer, labor costs were not a barrier. Those trainings worked because everyone trained together.
Today, most training is agency specific. Police train without fire or EMS. Fire trains without police. EMS trains in isolation. That is not how real incidents unfold.
The 2018 WTS Paradigm shooting in Middleton is a clear example of why joint training matters. Dozens of police vehicles flooded the scene. Without coordinated training on access and apparatus placement, fire and EMS struggled to reach victims quickly. That was not a failure of effort. It was a failure of preparation.
A Coordinated Approach
The Village should work with the local EMS district, the police department, the fire department, and the school district to fund and schedule joint active shooter and mass casualty training on a regular basis. This should include realistic scenario based exercises that reflect how incidents actually happen.
Public safety works best when agencies plan together, train together, and trust each other. As a trustee, I will advocate for policies that prepare our responders for the hardest days, not just the routine ones.