Kewaunee County Sheriff Matt Joski has no regrets picking up and letting go of a management contract of the Algoma Police Department. The contract between the two departments concludes at the end of 2018 after five years of cooperation. Chief Deputy David Cornelius most recently handled the day-to-day operations of the Algoma Police Department, a job being handed over to newly sworn-in Chief Randy Remiker. Joski says it was an experiment that had its answer all along.
Joski says even though the contract with the city of Algoma may be ending, the Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department will continue its commitment to the safety and wellbeing for all of the communities it serves. You can read more from Sheriff Joski’s weekly piece online with this story.
At Monday night’s Algoma City Council meeting, the new Chief of Police was sworn in. This was the culmination of a great deal of effort on the part of the City to recruit the best possible candidate to lead the Algoma Police Department into the future. The gentleman’s name is Randy Remiker and I have no doubt they made the right choice. On behalf of our law enforcement community, we welcome Chief Remiker and look forward to working together to keep our communities safe. I would like to thank the officers of the Algoma Police Department for their flexibility and acceptance of change through it all. Additionally I would like to thank each and every one of them for the respect and courtesy they extended to my staff on a daily basis.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of those members of the Sheriff’s Department who worked so diligently over the past five years in support of the management contract which we had with the City of Algoma. This agreement was a revolutionary approach to collaborative law enforcement relationships and was only possible through mutual respect and adherence to professional standards by all involved. I would like to thank the Administrative Assistants for the additional work they took on in processing and transcribing the many reports over the years. To the Investigators who were responsible for not only their existing cases, but to willingly reach out and investigate those major crimes which took place in the City of Algoma and lend their experience and professionalism to each and every task.
A great deal of effort was given by the Lieutenants of my Command Staff over the years. First Lt. Chris Gulbrand along Lt. Joe Treml and more recently, Lt. Jason Veeser along with Lt. Chris VanErem. They were many times the first point of contact and source of guidance in the middle of the night or throughout the weekends and holidays. Their operational knowledge and ability to communicate appropriate and necessary action was crucial in the positive outcome of so many incidents.
None of this collaboration would have been possible without the tireless efforts of Chief Deputy David Cornelius. Dave has been the hands on day to day manager of the department and served as the primary point of contact both internally as well as externally. He dedicated himself to the success of this relationship going above and beyond the expectations so as to successfully oversee the daily operations of the Police Department as well as keeping up with his duties here at the Sheriff’s Department. I relied on his perspective and knowledge of overall operations and was never let down. His leadership made the difference in establishing the community’s confidence in our ability to provide this service.
And finally to the citizens of the city of Algoma; thank you for having faith in us five years ago. Thank you for taking this journey through unchartered waters and supporting the many decisions along the way. While we may not be under contract any longer, please know that we remain committed to the safety and wellbeing of all communities throughout Kewaunee County and will always be there to support Chief of Police Randy Remiker and the members of the Algoma Police Department.
