Lake Country This Month
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Page 4A • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY NOVEMBER 2013 NEWSMAKER Q&A: Delafield Police Chief Scott Taubel Get to know ... Delafield Police Chief Scott Taubel To serve and protect Then it was more dealing with them and then moving on. Now there's a lot more litigation involved, a lot more attorneys and a lot more things like that. At the time I started, there were probably a dozen taverns in the city where now , there's more upscale restaurants – so we don't have the same problems we had then with drunkenness and things like that. Now things are going more (into whitecollar crime). With our retail areas, we have a lot of crime associated with retail, such as shoplifting and identity theft. We're involved a lot more in white-collar crime investigations than we were in the past. With the change in demographics, there's not as many violent crimes as we used to have. On verge of retirement, Taubel discusses three decades of service By Josh Perttunen Freeman Staff DELAFIELD – Delafield Police Chief Scott Taubel is retiring effective Feb. 1, after 34 years of service with the local police department. In this time, he has seen the community around him become more developed, and he has needed to adjust accordingly to the corresponding changes in criminal activity – along with the changes brought on by technology The chief, who oversees a depart. ment of 14 officers, sat down with The Freeman to discuss those topics and others related to law enforcement. FREEMAN: How has this affected your police force, the way they respond to calls and officer training? TAUBEL: Thirty years ago, the police responded more as the old-fashioned police. They responded to bar fights, things like that. But now officers are far more educated. I think the majority save for maybe one , or two of them, have bachelor's degrees – which they didn't before. The ongoing education, especially in the IT area, is also huge right now. THE FREEMAN: What challenges have arisen as the demographics of the Delafield area have shifted in 30 years' time? SCOTT TAUBEL: When I started, there were a lot of three-season cottages still on the lake. Obviously there's not many of , those left on the lake anymore. With the people who resided or stayed in them, it was a different type of law enforcement than it is now. FREEMAN: Have you seen a rise in heroin use in the Delafield area? If so, what can be done to curb that trend? TAUBEL: I think the problem is the prescription drugs. This frequently leads to heroin use because those users find that heroin is more obtainable than the prescription drugs may be ... pharmacies are being proactive with prescription drug fraud and things like that. FREE GIFT TO THE FIRST 20 CUSTOMERS BLACK FRIDAY FREEMAN: What do you think of the recent reckless homicide charges that have been associated with heroin overdoses? TAUBEL: The war on drugs is more of a public health issue than it is a criminal issue. The people doing heroin aren't doing it because they want to commit a criminal act, they're dealing with addictive issues and tendencies. I don't like (those reckless homicide charges). Our department has charged people with that and got convictions. To me, it's dependent on the situation. Obviously you can have a situation where somebody provides them with something and they know that it's bad. When you have two people that are both addicted to heroin, however, and they both drive to Milwaukee and then they both come back to shoot up, one dies and one doesn't ... to me, it doesn't make any sense to put anybody in prison for 10 years because they both had an addiction. One person overdosed; but the other one didn't force them to. People have free will and I don't think you should charge people criminally for somebody else's choices. Thur & Fri 10 - 5 • Sat 9 - 4 and by appointment Children's & Women's Boutique Garden Center Upcycled Furniture Beaded Art • Resale Clothing American Girl Clothes • Jewelry Bags & More Bags • Much More! Open Black Friday 8AM-8PM 234972002 Located in Pewaukee 1343 E. Wisconsin Ave. (Cty M) Ste 101 (across from Boomers) My favorite book is: "The Four Agreements" My favorite TV show is: the History or Discovery channels. My favorite movie is: "Pulp Fiction" or "The Shawshank Redemption." My favorite childhood memory is: spending time on my grandfather's farm. The person I most admire is: Joseph Taubel, grandfather. Three words people use to describe me are: calm, dedicated, easygoing. The food I like best is: seafood. My favorite hobbies are: woodworking, cabinetry. My goals for the year are: leave the Police Department in better condition than when I arrived, and to be more involved in the family woodworking business. My favorite vacation place is: Colorado. FREEMAN: How has technology changed the way crimes are committed and the way criminals are apprehended? 262•312•4512 TRUCKLOAD SALE Charles Auer/Freeman Staff Delafield Police Chief Scott Taubel stands next to a squad. Biography Name: Scott Taubel Age: 56 Family: Wife, Joan; four children Occupation: Chief of Delafield Police Department Professional background: Started as patrolman in 1980, became juvenile officer in 1987, lieutenant in 1990, captain in 1995 and chief in 2001. Education: Bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Mount Senario College; master's degree in human services from Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. TAUBEL: Everybody is pretty much carrying a computer around in their pocket and that is a wealth of information as far as investigations. The problem is the criminals are getting far more sophisticated. We recently arrested a group of people from the Chicago area who had forged credit cards and IDs. The credit cards were so well done that even the magnetic strips were encoded with the proper information. So, when they swiped them, it went through just fine. The sophistication is growing and the amount of money they get each time is growing. FREEMAN: What about new tools, such as the Taser? Has that changed how you respond to situations? TAUBEL: As far as hands-on arrests, the taser has been significant. It used to be that the only thing you could do was grab the person and basically whoever won the wrestling match came out on top. The taser allows the officers to communicate longer with subjects and take them into custody without injury the vast majority of the time. FREEMAN: In your decades of experience, how have you seen the view on domestic violence change? TAUBEL: For law enforcement as a whole, it's changed to recognize the victim as a victim and not somebody who always has a choice in leaving the home or doing other things. It's realizing that a lot of the victims feel trapped in their situation and don't feel like they have other options. We're more understanding about why they stay in these types of situations. Legislatively it's led to a zero tolerance , policy and mandatory arrest if there's any evidence of domestic abuse (of any kind). That helped us tremendously because prior to that, we had to show probable cause that a crime had occurred and we had to have a victim ... at a time when you might have a person saying that they don't want to prosecute and that they don't want to do anything. Changing it to the mandatory arrest took that out of the picture. FREEMAN: Do you think bullying may undergo a similar change in the next decade(s)? TAUBEL: Bullying is in the news more and I think people are becoming more aware of it. It does seem like it's going through the same kind of transition that domestic abuse did. People are realizing the severity of the impact it has on individuals. FREEMAN: What are some other significant changes that have occurred during your law enforcement career? TAUBEL: One thing that's bothered me ... is that the law used to treat juveniles as juveniles unless they committed some violent crime. When I started you were an adult at 18 years old. Now you're an adult at 17 years old. I think the problem is there are so many laws juveniles get arrested for that now go on to CCAP or – since they're 17 – they're charged as an adult. I think it's really harmed a lot of them. A lot of times it limits employment opportunities and limits college entrances. I just don't see that as being very good. I think kids are kids and everybody screws up sometimes in their life. Now, everything follows you forever; you can't ever get away from it. Email: jperttunen@conleynet.com 235166007 on Garage Doors & Door Openers Special! - Take down and haul away old door for FREE! 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