Kewaskum, WI – Kewaskum Police Chief Tom Bishop is celebrating his 10th year as head of the Village Police Department. In 2012 Bishop was chosen out of 21 applicants to succeed Chief Richard Knoebel who stepped down after 38 years at the helm.
“I’ve always stressed community-focused policing,” said Bishop. “I strive extremely hard to have community events and be involved in as many activities as possible. I encourage our officers to stop out at family picnics, or up at the park when activities are going on, or just any event in town.
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Bishop practices what he preaches hosting a regular Coffee with the Chief session to meet and talk to neighbors and local business owners. He also isn’t afraid to bring things to a more ‘human level’ taking part in the Police Department’s YouTube videos.
“Our videos are kind of silly, but we they’re fun to do and to engage with the community in that way,” he said.
Bishop was quick to credit his team for helping lead the effort to get involved. Officer Christian Picco joined in a game of kickball a few weeks ago with kids when he saw them playing in their neighborhood.
Below Officer Steven Rosales brought his ‘A’ game to the field when playing with kids at the baseball diamond. “We just try to keep that going,” said Bishop.
The Kewaskum PD has eight positions; five full-time officers are currently on staff and dedicated to keeping the peace. When Bishop started in 2012 there were seven full-time officers and two part timers. Like every line of business, said Bishop, they’ve seen turnover, but they’re working diligently to return to a staff of eight.
“Now we have to hire people and try to make sure they too will be those types of officers,” said Bishop referencing the focus on the community. “I ask those questions when we interview people, because it’s very important to me. That community factor is what makes us unique; I think it surpasses a lot of other communities.”
KEWASKUM POLICE DEPARTMENTMission Statement
The Kewaskum Police Department exists to serve our community. Our primary responsibilities are the safety of the public and the protection of their property. The Kewaskum Police Department’s mission is accomplished by adhering to three principles:
ACCOUNTABILITYPROFESSIONALISMPRIDEEvery Call. Every Contact. Every Time.
Questioned about the Village’s crime-fighting ability, Bishop touts Kewaskum as a “very safe community.”
“Statistically, we’re always one of the safest communities in the state,” he said. “What’s hard for us right now is we’ve lost some of our more experienced officers who have had formalized training, but we’re picking up officers that have prior law enforcement experience so they’re going to be able to add to our department.”
In order to expand the police force, without taxing the budget, this past April 2022 Bishop enhanced the collaborative community policing effort by launching an Eyes on Kewaskum Program.
Questioned whether the Kewaskum PD is giving up its school liaison position to the Sheriff’s Department, Bishop said that was not accurate.
“They’re not putting officers (deputies) in our school,” he said. “The Sheriff’s Department is going to put officers in the school that are within their jurisdiction.”
“We do have a police officer in our school and the sheriff has never mentioned anything about trying to step on our toes nor do I think he would in that regard,” said Bishop.
The Sheriff’s Department indicated it would have a “daily presence of a deputy in schools under county jurisdiction.”
“They wouldn’t be in our schools or West Bend or Hartford or Slinger, or Germantown but schools that are in the county,” said Bishop.
“We’re not giving up our police liaison program. I think that position is way too important. The Sheriff’s Department provides resources if we need it, but we know the community, we need to be in those kinds of settings.”
Questioned whether there is a high level of crime in Kewaskum, Bishop said there is no reason for people to live in fear as the Village is an extremely safe community.
“There’s no reason for people to be afraid. I wouldn’t live here with my family if we were fearful. We have hardly any violent crime in Kewaskum; we are a safe community,” said Bishop.
“Year to date our property crime is low, we have no violent crime like robberies, we’ve had one burglary and we’re down on the number of thefts and fraud.”
Bishop said graffiti was up, but that could be tied to kids. “You have one or two juveniles that go on a vandalism spree, and it makes that number look out of control: but it’s an outlier to the norm because we normally don’t have that happen.
“Overall, we are an extremely safe community,” said Bishop. “Having officers who are visible, it is something special about being in a small town.”
The Kewaskum Police Department family includes Kt, Mark E. Steiner, Kevin J. Kohn, Steven Rosales, School Resource Officer, and officers Christian Picco, officer Nicholas Pawelski, and administrative assistant Patricia J. Blackstone.
On a side note: One of the hot topics in Kewaskum is still whether they finally caught their alligator.
It was September 18, 2022, when the Kewaskum Police department received a report of an alligator in the pond at Reigle Family Park.
“It was an intriguing story,” said Bishop. “I really kind of wanted it to be one. It was kind of fun and now we’ll never actually know.”
