La Crosse County Sheriff Survey

Biography:

I am a 29-year veteran of the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office, having the fortunate opportunity to work in all five major divisions offered. This fact alone has helped me to shape my career and allow me to build upon and improve skillsets needed to run a department with so many facets. I am also passionate about our community, as I have always called it home. As a life-long resident of La Crosse County, I feel it is my duty to continue the Sheriff’s Office’s long legacy of protecting its citizens and ensuring that all citizens feel safe. I have developed a strategic set of opportunities that I believe will allow the Sheriff’s Office to continue its growth and extend its services to partner with the community.

My strategic vision for 2023 – 2026 is outlined below.

• Provide current and relevant training and education to all levels at the Sheriff’s Office, to ensure all employees and citizens feel safe.
• Expand every employee’s toolbox to include mental health and substance abuse topics, so they can handle difficult situations in an informed and skilled manner.
• Focus on ridding our communities of drug trafficking organizations flooding our streets with Heroin, Methamphetamine, and Fentanyl, so our children feel safe when they go out to play.
• Collaborate with key partners in the Community to extend service opportunities beyond the Sheriff’s Office’s reach.
• Continue to grow a relationship built on open communication and trust between Law Enforcement and the Community we serve.

Enforcing laws does not mean arresting away the problem; we need to change the way law enforcement handles tasks through education and training. Together, we need to develop a skillset focused on collaboration and open communication with community partners. I want to be that leader who inspires change.

Biography:

John Siegel brings 29 years of law enforcement experience and a vast knowledge of the inner workings of the sheriff’s office to his candidacy for sheriff. His experience includes: Jail Officer, Patrol Officer, Court Services Officer, DARE Officer, and Investigator. Administratively he was promoted to Sergeant of Investigations by Sheriff Steve Helgeson and Captain of Patrol and Captain of Investigations by current Sheriff Jeff Wolf. John is the only candidate to serve as head of both law enforcement divisions of the Sheriff’s Office. He had been a part of and led La Crosse County Homicide Investigations.

John’s career has been defined by his commitment to the community. Many La Crosse Co residents have met John through safety events, demonstrations, working with youth at the Boys and Girls Club. And presenting to committees and citizen organizations. Law Enforcement is facing new and unique challenges. As Sheriff, collaborating with citizens and community groups to improve services in La Crosse County will always be a priority.

John’s commitment to his profession is evident in the training and recognition he has received. A small sampling of the advanced level training he had received includes: Crisis Negotiation, Death Investigation, Evidence Processing, Investigating Crimes Against Children, and traffic Crash Investigation. John has been a part of Sheriff’s Office personnel honored as award winners by the WI Homicide Investigators Association, WI Crime Prevention Practitioners Association (Twice) where he also served on the board of directors for 10 years. John was honored as Wisconsin DARE Officer of the year in 2009 and is a past president of that organization.

As an original member of the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office Peer Organized Support Team (POST), John understands the for addressing mental health needs in the community and his own department.

John has been married to his wife Regina for almost 25 years (July). They have three grown children ages 22, 21 and 19. He and Regina have been very active with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse and John is currently on the APTIV board of directors.

John’s proven leadership and abundant experience makes him the first and best choice to be voted Sheriff of La crosse County

The La Crosse County Emergency Services Department still exists and maintains and runs the Emergency Dispatch Center.  Recently, the Emergency Management Director was moved from under the authority of Emergency Services to the Sheriff’s Office.  Some emergency management responsibilities include:  Disaster relief response and funding, mass casualty planning, grant writing and a major part of the La Crosse County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).  Whose authority the Emergency Management Director falls under, differs throughout the state with about half a part of the local sheriff’s office.   I think steps to improve the position began when it moved within the sheriff’s office.   The sheriff’s office brings resources to the position that Emergency Services does not.

The transition of Emergency Management under the Sheriff’s Office has been seamless.  The Sheriff’s Office has been able to provide oversight, guidance, and support.  Emergency Management belongs in the Sheriff’s Office because that is the only full-time county-wide emergency security and protection agency.  Regular and continuing training with real-life scenarios and objective outside assessment will keep the emergency management skills current should the need for them to be utilized arise.

In La Crosse County, regular training at all levels of the Sheriff’s Office continues to be utilized while maintaining the high standards that have historically been in place for the Sheriff’s Office over the years.  Accountability has always been present in the management structure of the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office.

I’m open to meeting with anyone or any groups who I need to in order to convince them I will listen if anyone thinks I’m not being transparent or accountable.

The sheriff and command staff have to set clear expectations for conduct. This includes educating deputies on behaviors and actions that will be considered inappropriate and the consequences to those actions. Every new administration should set their expectations.  We currently do a “review” of all incidents involving a use of force, and that will continue.

I also believe it is beneficial to use incidents (positive or negative) that occur in other parts of our state and country as a training opportunity. It allows our deputies to assess how they might have responded and how it correlates to La Crosse County training and expectations.

Early in my La Crosse County career I worked in the Court Services Division.  I was in court rooms and intake on a daily basis and was fortunate to observe circuit court judges such as Dale Pasell and Mike Mulroy.  They really taught me that bond is a complex issue.  After an arrest, the District Attorney, defense attorneys and judges are involved in the bond decisions.  I believe law enforcement could have a larger role in the process in some circumstances, especially if there are factors they believe may be overlooked in a bond hearing.

Criticism of Judges is sometimes fair and sometimes not.  We all do our best, including judges, and where I think people in the system aren’t performing, I’ll try to work with them to improve, just like I assume others will do with me.  Crime is a complicated problem that requires a lot more study than focusing on one part of the system.  We still need to make sure that our victim’s rights are being met and that there is accountability within the system.

Advisory boards are used in many large organizations and work for the betterment of those entities.  Placing intelligent citizens on advisory boards can be beneficial if the roles of any and all parties are clearly spelled out in advance for the benefit of the overall community.

With that said, it is my understanding that the current Citizen’s Board is undergoing a study to determine its effectiveness.  I’m open to finding different and creative ways to listen to marginalized populations.

I believe there is a form of Citizens board that can work for La Crosse County and that it is ok to be unique to La Crosse County.   It should be a reasonable group of people who are open to understanding how law enforcement functions and open to sharing their perspectives back to law enforcement. My vision for a board is one that is advisory in function, and involved in many aspects of law enforcement including attending training and assisting in policy and procedure reviews. Building trust with each other is key.  The board’s sole function cannot be to “review” when officers make mistakes or are accused of misconduct.

I have never understood the notion that it has to be one or the other.  Our community should support everyone. At our family dinner table, we believe in backing the badge and that black lives matter.

We shouldn’t see this as the only two sides of the issue.  All groups should look for safety, security, and community support.  It should not matter, the group; the law protects all. Support for any employee of the County is expected and is protected by law, the same way protection of citizens is supported by the laws of the nation, state, and communities.  We should have civil discussions about these topics and work together to solve problems instead of throwing blame at one group or another.

Law enforcement positions have been tougher to fill in some areas of the United States.  There are a number of reasons for this; demographic shifts in the population, public relations problems in some areas, and the instability and pressures on law enforcement budget reductions that are now being revisited and reversed.  In La Crosse County we have been able to attract a solid pool of qualified candidates with high degrees of integrity for open positions.  My belief is that great communications are an excellent tool for attracting great candidates.  I feel that my communication skills place me in a unique position to continue to attract those great individuals.

As sheriff, I have to make sure that men and women considering a career in law enforcement in our community know it is a good profession, and the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Office is a great place to work. I truly believe it is.

A big part of recruitment and retention is making sure everyone knows they are appreciated and will receive the training, tools and support they need to be successful. Setting up a patrol operations team and jail operations team of deputies and supervisors to evaluate what we do well and where we can be better, safer or more efficient is a priority for me. I believe giving our staff a voice in how we operate creates a positive environment that attracts good officers.

The elected office of the sheriff is written into our state constitution and I do not see that changing. The sheriff of our county and any county should represent everyone, regardless of political affiliation and should strive to make sure it is a safe and healthy place to work and live. I do not consider myself a politician. I am running for sheriff of La Crosse County because I am committed to having a positive impact on our community and continuing to lead our office forward after Sheriff Wolf’s retirement.

That commitment would not change if the election of county offices was moved to the nonpartisan April election cycle or if I had to apply through a policing commission.

The model that is presently in place has worked in Wisconsin for over 100 years.  There are other models but at the present time there are far greater issues at hand.

Assistance is always helpful.  Crime is a local, regional, and national problem.  It’s not fair to expect taxpayers of just La Crosse to fund solutions when we draw people from other parts of the region here who commit crime and use resources.  Funding and solutions need to be bigger than just La Crosse on its own.

In my 29 years in law enforcement, I have assisted many outside agencies and many outside agencies have assisted me.  In those 29 years, I have established a great network of resources that will assist me going forward as La Crosse County Sheriff.

Additionally, I have received endorsements from all surrounding Sheriffs, to include Sheriffs from across the State.  Most recently, Paul Connel, Deputy Attorney General (2015-2019) and Special Agent Darren Hynek of the Wisconsin Department of Justice have publicly given me their support.

Law enforcement can always use more training and more resources.  We are fortunate to have great relationships with the WI Department of Criminal Investigations, local FBI office, DEA office, and a local drug task force.   Drug task force funding and community policing funding (COPS grants) continue to be cut at the federal level each year.  Recently there have been conversations on what types of civilian positions could help law enforcement be more effective.  Increased funding for on shift crisis workers and mental health professionals who work hand in hand with officers is one area that would assist us.

I would like to see continued support and additional support for our jail and patrol deputies in areas such as:  De-escalation, fair and impartial policing, cultural awareness, use of force, effective communication and tactics.  This can come from governmental agencies and our own local resources.

Law enforcement can always use more training and more resources.  We are fortunate to have great relationships with the WI Department of Criminal Investigations, local FBI office, DEA office, and a local drug task force.   Drug task force funding and community policing funding (COPS grants) continue to be cut at the federal level each year.  Recently there have been conversations on what types of civilian positions could help law enforcement be more effective.  Increased funding for on shift crisis workers and mental health professionals who work hand in hand with officers is one area that would assist us.

I would like to see continued support and additional support for our jail and patrol deputies in areas such as:  De-escalation, fair and impartial policing, cultural awareness, use of force, effective communication and tactics.  This can come from governmental agencies and our own local resources.

Just like with any topic, there are many problems with many solutions.  I don’t think there is one quick fix to the gun issue, just like the drug or homelessness issue. Each proposal must be evaluated on what the evidence tells us, what evidence there is that will fix the problem, and always being mindful of people’s rights to carry guns balanced against law enforcement’s attempts to stop and solve violent crime.  We in law enforcement need to do a better job of removing the guns from the individuals who are committing crimes and in violation of the law by possessing them.

We all need to be mindful that the role of sheriff is to house prisoners and enforce laws, not write laws.  Cultivating safe communities while living within the paradigms of present laws set by people whose role it is to write those laws maintains the separation of powers set out by the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin.