A local police department is getting some high praise from taxpayers. Everest Metro is being called the, "most fiscally responsible in the state," by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. The per capita cost for police services is $120. That's $22 per capita below the average for departments of its size that were surveyed.
The department has 24 full-time officers protecting 14,740 people. The chief says his officers take a lot of responsibility for their cases, and are able to concentrate their efforts on where they're needed most.
"Our officers work as teams, so they do a lot of their own follow up investigations now," Police Chief Dan Vergin said. "We encourage decision-making at their level."
Vergin says they put out a survey out last year asking the community where they think police are needed most. The department has uses that as a guideline for allocating resources.
