Behind every good sheriff's deputy is a good administrative assistant, and that is even truer in Kewaunee County. For over 15 years combined, Mary Berkovitz and Angie Mueller have served the Kewaunee County Sheriff's Department by handling a lot of the paperwork coming across their desk from traffic stops, accident reports, and other incidents. Their duties also provide a vital link between the department and other agencies in the county. They may not have a badge or drive in a cruiser, but Kewaunee County Sheriff Matt Joski says they are part of the family.
Joski says the digitalization of records is the biggest change the two have seen in recent years. Patrol deputies kept Berkovitz and Mueller busy in 2019 with over 3500 complaints filed.
FROM SHERIFF MATT JOSKI
While we are still in the early weeks of the New Year I would like to continue with providing information on the various aspects of the Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department. This week I will be focusing on our “Sheriff’s Administrative Assistants”
In every organization there is a system of processes which allows for the smooth and reliable transfer of information from one component of the organization to another. It is the center of all activity and its success relies on constant communication and the ability to adjust to changes on a moment’s notice. For the Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department these processes involve the handling of all documentation from traffic citations to accident reports, civil process to criminal charge requests, juvenile referrals to open records requests. They involve providing information to agencies throughout Kewaunee County, the State of Wisconsin and in some cases the Federal Government.
All of this activity falls under the duties of “Sheriff’s Administrative Assistant” and in Kewaunee County we have two of the best; Mary Berkovitz and Angie Mueller. To provide a glimpse into the daily life of these two will be difficult in the space I have available for this article, but I will try to provide a broad overview.
From the moment a report is generated to the time when it goes to court our Sheriff’s Administrative Assistants are a vital link between the responding officers to the Supervisory staff where reports are filed reviewed proofed, and ultimately submitted to either the District Attorney’s Office, Human Services or the many other agencies with whom we work with on a daily basis. Here at the Sheriff’s Department all reports are dictated by the responding Officers which then require them to be transcribed by the Sheriff’s Administrative Assistants. This accounts for a great deal of the volume of work which is done by these two employees. Beyond just transcribing they also must make sure all of the incidents are coded correctly so that the monthly reports to the Department of Justice are accurate and reflect the actual offenses occurring in Kewaunee County.
Beyond the world of law enforcement reports they are also involved in the civil process work that is done at the Sheriff’s Department. This involves the service of court orders ranging from sheriff sales to writ of executions, evictions to restraining orders. Even after the reports have left the Sheriff’s Department and the cases have moved forward in the legal process, many times we receive requests for various reports which these two employees facilitate.
In the world of law enforcement where documentation is everything, the need for accurate and timely reports is vital and we are very fortunate to have two dedicated individuals who make sure the “I’s” have been dotted and the “T’s” crossed. Thank you Mary and Angie! Next week I will be providing an update on our Public Safety Building planning process, as we are nearing the completion of the second phase of our work.
