Menominee County renews law enforcement pact with Stephenson - EH Extra

MENOMINEE—Menominee County will continue to provide law enforcement services to the City of Stephenson for $20,000 per year for the next three years, under an agreement the Menominee County Board approved unanimously last week.

The Menominee County Sheriff’s office is expected to schedule coverage to “best provide” law enforcement protection to Stephenson. It has agreed to be responsible for wages, benefits and insurance involving the officers assigned to the task, according to the agreement.

Stephenson Mayor John Starzynski said the city previously hired a part-time law enforcement officer, but the part-timers left for full-time positions. “It’s too hard to hire, train and retain,” Starzynski said. “As soon as you got someone trained, they left.”

The sheriff’s office also will continue to provide emergency assistance that won’t be counted as part of the contract services. “Everyone is paying the village for road patrol, but we wouldn’t be getting some of the extra things they help us with” without the agreement, Starzynski said.

The agreement doesn’t set a precise number of hours of law enforcement provided, and it likely varies. “Maybe they go through Stephenson 30 hours a week, so we get an extra 30 hours,” he said.

Regardless of when a sheriff’s officer is on duty in Stephenson, residents receive emergency assistance by calling 911.

The agreement says the sheriff’s office will provide liquor license enforcement and inspections and any funds collected will be remitted to the sheriff’s office. “They do check store fronts,” he said. “They will do extra patrols when there are sporting events in town.”

Whether the job of providing law enforcement will become more challenging when the first marijuana stores open in Menominee isn’t yet known, but Starzynski said, “For us right now, it hasn’t been an issue. We opted out of the marijuana program. There’s nothing in Stephenson. For us, it’s not any issue of any kind.”

The Menominee County Sheriff’s Office presents monthly reports to the City of Stephenson, Starzynski said. “I haven’t had any complaints.…We work well together,” he said. The EagleHerald’s calls to Menominee County Sheriff Holmes weren’t returned.

While Stephenson outsources its law enforcement to the county, it does its own snow removal, Starzynski said. “We have our own snow plows and loaders. Our guys do a very good job of keeping our streets up during snowfall,” he said.

The County Road Patrol clears the snow from roads leading to and from the City of Stephenson, he said.

“They’re out there as soon as they can be. It’s always a battle in the wintertime with snow and ice. They’re short drivers, too. Sometimes it take a little longer, but I think they do a fine job,” he said.

source: https://www.ehextra.com/news/menominee-county-renews-law-enforcement-pact-with-stephenson/article_eb7e43c3-ba7c-5a05-b512-3d6a8f2ceeb8.html

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