Hoelzel to retire as police chief

fter more than 30 years of serving on the Waupaca Police Department, Chief Brian Hoelzel looks forward to retirement.

He will remain on the force until Jan. 31, 2025, working with the incoming chief Pete Kraeger, who is currently a police officer with the city.

The Police and Fire Commission appointed Kraeger to the position shortly after Hoelzel announced his retirement. Kraeger will assume his duties as chief beginning Feb. 1. Because he was not immediately available, the Waupaca County Post will interview Kraeger at a future date.

Hoelzel grew up in Menasha, graduated in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

He spent the following year working for the Combined Locks Police Department, where he was sponsored for recruit school at Fox Valley Technical College, then certified as an officer.

Hoelzel began working in the Waupaca Police Department in Jan. 21, 1994.

“I always wanted to work for with the public and help people. Between that (law enforcement) and teaching were the two career choices I was looking at,” Hoelzel said. “Now, after retirement, I can substitute teach if I want.”

Starting as a patrol officer, Hoelzel was promoted to detective sergeant in 2002, then police chief in 2016.

“I took an interest early on with investigations,” Hoelzel said. “I went to multiple schools for crime scene investigations.”

The most challenging part of being in law enforcement is “delivering bad news to families and the mental health aspect of it afterwards and how we deal with that,” Hoelzel said.

He said notifying a family of the death of a loved one, whether its a traffic accident or a suicide, can have an impact on the officer’s mental health.

“When I first started nobody ever taught us how to deal with that,” Hoelzel said, noting that officers with untreated mental health issues are at a higher risk of alcoholism and suicide.

The first time Hoelzel notified a family of a suicide involved a woman’s hanging.

“Every night for months when I went to bed I could envision her hanging,” Hoelzel said.

Hoelzel said Sgt. Wes Zube has played a significant role in organizing a mental health program for officers. Zube, who lost his brother to suicide, leads two other peer-support officers in helping officers deal with stress.

The department has a contract with a licensed mental health professional. All the officers, including the chief, must meet with her once a year.

Among Hoelzel’s primary objectives as police chief has been to “strengthen communications and trust, not only within the department but within the community.”

He recalled that several years ago communities across the country were antagonistic toward police.

In 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd when a Minneapolis police was recorded kneeling on his neck, protests erupted nationwide.

“Everyday, you’d turn on the TV and there was something negative about law enforcement,” Hoelzel said. “We’ve been very fortunate ... The community believed in us.”

Community outreach
To build trust in the community, Waupaca police officers have become involved in the community. They coach youth sports, volunteer with local civic and charitable organizations and serve on various boards.

Among the most successful community programs, the Waupaca Police and Fire Departments, working with ThedaCare, organized Holidays with Heroes. Through the program, officers and firefighters take underprivileged children to Fleet Farm to buy Christmas presents for their families.

Each family receives a blanket, a pillow, hats and gloves and a holiday food box with all the fixings.

The children get a meal and spend time decorating cookies after they go shopping.

Other community outreach programs include Coffee with a Cop, Donut with a Cop at the Waupaca Middle School and Waupaca Learning Center, and Cops and Bobbers where kids go fishing with officers.

Technology
Hoelzel said Waupaca has upgraded its technology.

New body cameras allow Hoelzel to view from his desktop computer what officers are doing while they are at the scene. Where the officers are located is also indicated on his screen.

Waupaca also has the most advanced tasers in the county. Instead of a single shot, the new tasers have 10 cartridges and are effective up to 45 feet.

Hoelzel noted that the new taser “reduces injury not only to the individual we’re arresting but to the officer.”

All Waupaca officers have been trained to use the new tasers,

Waupaca police may also begin using artificial intelligence to write reports.

Called Draft One, the AI program allows officers to use the video and audio from their body camera to generate the first draft of their report.

When Draft One types the report, it lists the events at a crime scene in chronological order, then the officer review the report for accuracy.

Officers typically spend three hours a day writing reports.

Hoelzel said the AI program will reduce the amount of paperwork and allow officers to spend more time in the field.

“When I started here, we had typewriters,” Hoelzel said.

The AI program is currently being used on a trial basis.

“We have to see if the cost is beneficial to the department and the city,” Hoelzel said.

Waupaca police have four licensed drone pilots and they are currently considering drones that can go inside a building to view a situation.

Police vehicles also have equipment that can read license plate numbers and send an immediate alert if the vehicle has been stolen or has been involved in a missing person complaint.

Hoelzel’s personal involvement
Hoelzel said what he will miss most are the people he has worked with, in the department, in the community, at city council and the police commission.

He has been involved in Waupaca County Drug Treatment Court, ThedaCare Community Health Action Team (CHAT) and Project WisHope.
“It’s been a fun 30 years,” Hoelzel said.