VILLAGE OF STURTEVANT — Sturtevant residents are speaking out after learning the village board is considering outsourcing police services to the Racine County Sheriff's Office, a move that has caught both community members and officers by surprise.
"Why isn't this being addressed in public? I'm a little horrified that I had to hear about this on Facebook," one village resident said during Tuesday's village board meeting.
The potential change in law enforcement services has sparked concern among residents who are questioning why such significant discussions were happening behind closed doors.
Watch: Sturtevant village board explores shutting down police department, residents demand transparency
"Do us all a favor in this village. If you're behind closed doors, keep your mouth shut and keep it behind closed doors," another resident told trustees.
Many community members feel they deserve more information about a decision that could fundamentally change public safety in their neighborhood. Many expressed frustration about learning of the potential change through social media rather than official channels.
According to the board, trustees are currently in an information-gathering phase regarding the potential outsourcing of law enforcement services, though specific details about what prompted these discussions remain unclear.
Rose Woodruff, who has lived in the village for over 50 years, is open to change but emphasized the need for transparency in the process.
"I would strongly urge this board to post the facts exactly what the sheriff's department will do and what our current police department will do," Woodruff said.
"For me if a village is gonna grow, it has to change," she added.
Meanwhile, Sturtevant police officers feel blindsided by the discussions.
Brent McCoy, President of the Sturtevant Professional Police Association, spoke with TMJ4 during the National Night Out event happening simultaneously with the board meeting.
"The communication hasn't been there between the village side and us. We have had no talks with any of the trustees. No communication as far as their plans with this. And we're looking to get that communication," McCoy said.
When asked if the department felt blindsided, McCoy was direct: "Yeah, absolutely, yeah. As a union, as any member at the PD. No one was aware that this was going on."
Officers believe their local knowledge is a valuable asset to the community they serve.
"They're the ones that know the people," McCoy said.
The Sturtevant Professional Police Association has the backing of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
The WPPA said in a statement:
"The 11 full-time officers that comprise the Sturtevant Professional Police Association (SPPA) have asked me to release a letter that the group sent to the Village Board in Sturtevant as the latter explores disbanding their agency and contracting with a neighboring agency. The SPPA's repeatedly pleas to have a voice in that discussion have gone ignored, so they feel compelled to take a more public posture on this important local issue. The attached letter outlines their views, and they hope that any coverage by the local news media will incentivize the Village Board to be more transparent with the community than it has up until this point. The SPPA has developed an informational handout that it will be distributing to members of the public."
All trustees declined to comment on the potential change except for Village President Stuart TenCate, who is openly supporting the police.
This story was reported by Megan Lee and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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