Former Independence chief appointed police advisor

The Independence city council voted to accept Mayor Robert Baecker’s appointment of former city police chief Derrick Vold as an advisor to handle administrative work as the city again looks for a new chief of police.

The vacancy was created when Chad Halvorson — who had replaced Vold as the chief of police in April of 2022 — resigned on Dec. 8. The resignation came after a closed session held by the law enforcement and personnel committee on Sept. 26 was followed by special council meetings with closed sessions, apparently to discuss disciplining Halvorson, on Nov. 20 and Nov. 28. After the closed session on Nov. 28, the council voted to establish a committee that would be permitted to suspend, reduce or remove a police chief. 

Tim Hanson, chair of the committee, said it was a “mighty busy month, I’ll just leave it at that,” regarding the committee’s activity. He added: “The former chief went his ways and it was a smooth transition.”

Baecker’s appointment was approved unanimously with some discussion regarding the pay rate, specifically related to how much the city will be able to use Vold, who left the department in 2022 for medical reasons. Baecker said Vold collects disability payments and council member Deb Marsolek said that means he is not able to exceed an income of $18,000 per year. Baecker suggested paying Vold $31.50 per hour, which is what he made while serving as the police chief, but there was concern that such a high pay rate may limit how much the city can use Vold.

“At $31.50, since he is on disability, that is really going to cut his time to a little bit,” council member Jason Ekern said. Vold would be limited to about 570 hours. 

Baecker said Vold won’t be working in the office every day and won’t be doing actual police work. 

“He can’t go out and arrest anybody,” Baecker said. “It’s just coming in and getting us organized and back on track.”

Though, council members indicated Vold could have his work cut out for him.

“We have no idea what kind of mess there is,” Cleo Skroch, council member, said. 

Among Vold’s duties will be to assist the city in finding a new chief, helping the new chief update systems and passwords and scheduling with the current department.

Initially a motion to hire Vold was made with no dollar amount, but Marsolek indicated she didn’t feel comfortable without knowing how much money could be spent. 

“I really think we should put a dollar amount on it and then reassess it at some point,” Marsolek said. “If he says ‘hey, I’ve got a lot more to do’ then we’ll revisit it at that time, instead of just giving him a blank check to work until we decide we don’t need him anymore.”

Baecker said Vold has been an asset for the city and that he was “nice enough” to come back.

“I don’t think the negativity is correct,” Baecker said. “He doesn’t have to do that, then who are we going to get to come in?”

Ultimately, the council approved the recommendation at a rate not to exceed $31.50 with the position to be reviewed in nine weeks. 

Baecker said that while the city looks to hire a new chief, the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to provide extra coverage.