Community Action Team

The Community Action Team (CAT) is a group of specialized and trained officers whose goal, using community oriented policing methods, is to help resolve community related problems that arise in the Village. These officers spend a great deal of time gathering information on specific issues through various connections with the public and other law enforcement organizations, organizing and attending community meetings, attending school functions, planning community events (such as National Night Out), providing ALICE training to schools and local businesses, and gathering information about particular issues within the Village and special needs of certain residents. The information collected by the CAT can then be analyzed and targeted or forwarded to other divisions within the Police Department so that the Police Department as a whole can operate as efficiently and effectively as possible to minimize or eliminate the problems before they expand. CAT officers, through these community-based policing activities, become well known to local community leaders, civic groups, businesses, schools, and other neighborhood organizations. As a result, they become a trustworthy advocate for the community. The end game of the CAT is to aid the Police Department with its most valuable tool – a unified front with the community that we protect and serve.

The CAT division is staffed by:

• Sergeant William Werneske
• Officer Jim Creighton (Community Relations/Traffic Enforcement)
• Officer Bobby Brooks (Traffic Enforcement)
• Officer Pete Tschammer (Traffic Enforcement/Community Relations)
• Community Service Officer Jen Miklitsch
• Community Service Officer Elizabeth Zopfi