[Madison, WI] — Dane County Sheriff’s detective Anthony Hamilton today charged that appointed Sheriff Kalvin Barrett is risking the safety of Dane County residents by allowing staff levels to fall to unprecedented lows.

Detective Hamilton, a candidate for sheriff in the November election, reported that the sheriff’s department is short over 58 sworn deputies — down more than 12 percent from authorized levels — because the politically appointed sheriff is playing identity politics in hiring in order to satisfy the progressive politicians’ political agenda.

“Violent crime, car theft and assaults are reaching historic levels in Dane County, while at the same time Sheriff Barrett is refusing to fill dozens of officer jobs in order to make the numbers work,” said Detective Hamilton.  “As the next Dane County Sheriff, I’ll make putting more deputies on the street a top priority.”

The entire Dane County Sheriff’s Office was notified that deputies will be placed on “alert” status on July 28 to address the current staffing crisis. “Alert” means the department has notified the entire agency that personnel can be called work at any time for mandatory overtime shifts to cover the empty spots.  “While alert status has been used before, this is the first time the agency has stated it would be indefinite, with no end in sight.”

The staffing crisis is poised to get worse without stronger leadership, Hamilton charged. With so many Dane County deputies nearing retirement; absent new recruits, the agency roster is poised to drop to below 300 deputies — well short of its 478 authorized positions.

“This is a crisis that demands leadership.  For far too long the sheriff’s office has caved to political influence from the county executive’s office at the cost of public safety.  The sheriff has to lead, not follow, and he needs to be honest with the public about how bad this crisis is.” Detective Hamilton said.  “I have a plan to fix this staffing crisis right away, and speed up the hiring process to fill the empty positions in the long run.”

  • Close down the old jail. Shutting down the entire CCB jail would solve the inhumane conditions, both for the inmates and the employees unsafe work conditions.
  • Ship all of the inmates in the CCB to other secure facilities.
  • Reallocate those deputies to at least temporarily fill the staffing crisis.

Hamilton noted previous Dane County Sheriff Gary Hamblin followed this formula to success, and it would address the staffing crisis immediately while lessening the risk to the public.

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