November 6, 2020
Application process for upcoming Police Officer position and eligibility list in full swing. Don’t miss an opportunity to become part of a great community and work environment.
Sincerely,
Christine Dobbs, Chief of Police
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August 17, 2020
Look soon for links to submit applications to establish an ongoing eligibility list for future Police Officer Vacancies. If you are not familiar with the area, now is the time to check out all that the City of Eagle River and surrounding communities have to offer you as an officer and your family as a member of our community.
Christine Dobbs
Chief of Police
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Now that we have all had our adult conversations, stated our stances, lashed out against the unfairness of the whole COVID situation in general…here is some more information for you. Bear in mind, that this ultimately is a Public Health Emergency, not a law enforcement emergency.
Governor Evers issued Executive Order #82, declaring a public health emergency in response to Wisconsin’s increased outbreak levels and statewide spread of COVID-19. The Governor’s public health emergency powers under Wis. Stat. § 323.10 and Wis. Stat. § 323.12(4)(b) authorize him to issue public safety orders. Pursuant to those powers, the Governor issued Emergency Order #1, which requires face coverings in specified situations. That order took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, August 1, 2020.
This provides some basic information about the orders.
The goal is VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE. For intentional violations of the face covering order, enforcement will depend on the factual setting.
Unlike the “Safer at Home” order issued by Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Palm this spring, violations of the Governor’s face covering order, standing alone, are not subject to criminal penalty. Instead, an intentional violation is enforceable through a civil forfeiture of no more than $200. Such a violation may be reported to a local public health official for follow-up or to a district attorney, who has statutory authority under Wis. Stat. § 978.05(2) to prosecute state forfeiture actions.
There may be occasions where businesses or individuals face behavior rising to the level of disorderly conduct. Of course, as always, law enforcement has the authority to investigate and address such conduct.
The order does not apply to courtrooms or court proceedings. You may be asked to briefly remove masks when entering certain establishments, i.e. Financial institutions.
In issuing his order, the Governor cited the effectiveness of face coverings in reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. We will keep you updated about any legal developments. Note that the validity of the order is not controlled by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin Legislature v. Palm, 391 Wis. 2d 497, 942 N.W.2d 900 (2020). That decision addressed statutes in Chapter 252 that govern how Secretary-designee Palm carries out her duties as the DHS Secretary. Governor Evers’ emergency powers are under different statutes, in Chapter 323.
We will update you further as we have additional information.
(Above includes excerpts of 07/31/20 Wisconsin Atty Gen Josh Kaul via AAG Frank Sullivan .)
We, as a community, can step up to the plate via voluntary compliance. We are asking for your cooperation when entering businesses/establishments or when in a group setting to mask up. Keep in mind that ultimately if the employee(s) of a business remind you to mask up and you are unwilling, the business has the right to refuse service and ask you to leave. Staying in a premise after being asked to leave by a person of lawful authority is trespassing. Becoming belligerent, disturbing the peace, can escalate to disorderly conduct.
We all have enough going on in our lives adjusting to our hopefully temporary new way of doing things, work, kids, dealing with whether or not there will be in person school, trying to get a simple doctor appointment or annual checkups, even Vet checkups for your animals, that we should just practice a little patience and tolerance. This is not permanent, albeit somewhat unpleasant, but not the permanent way we go forward, a bump in the road of history. Let our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren read in their futuristic tablets that our society handled this adversity with dignity and with utmost respect for each other.
Respectfully,
Christine Dobbs, Chief of Police
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We want the Residents, Business Owners and Visitors of the City of Eagle River to be assured that we are doing our best to keep our Officers up to date in regard to the State of Emergency in Wisconsin due to the outbreak of Covid 19 (Coronavirus 2019).
This is a public health issue that we are facing and public health departments have the lead in regard to national, state and local response in combating the virus or reducing quick spread curve. The level of response we are currently seeing on a nationwide scale is unprecedented in our times. What is being learned about COVID 19 and response to it is very fluid, changing every day. Check our COVID 19 page for links to different health organizations for information.
We are in a time of significant uncertainty but here at the local level we are preparing for duties we may encounter in regard to when our assistance will be needed. Some of our daily activities may change, our response will be the same, we are a proactive police department and will continue to be so.
Virtual Hand Shake,
Christine Dobbs, Chief of Police