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Interim chief candidate named

MILTON — East Troy’s village administrator had nothing but praise for Robert W. Roberts, the man the village hired as interim police chief in August and a current candidate for interim police chief in Milton.

Roberts brought the East Troy Police Department up to date and implemented many improvements during his five months there, Administrator Judy Weter said. He even helped hire and train a permanent chief.

“The village has no regrets on hiring Chief Roberts,” she said. “If we had the same situation again, we would hire him again.”

Milton is hoping Roberts can do the same thing for its police department.

The Milton Police Commission is considering hiring Roberts, a college professor and former police chief, as interim chief, City Administrator Todd Schmidt announced in a news release Tuesday.

The police department has gone without a chief since Tom Gilland retired Jan. 7. Sergeants have run the department under the commission’s supervision as the commission debated rehiring Gilland.

Thursday, the commission announced it was not rehiring Gilland. Instead, it was considering a candidate for interim chief who could perform an organizational study of the department and help find a permanent chief.

Roberts is an assistant professor of criminal justice at UW-Platteville and is working on a doctorate in education, according to his resume. He holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

He has served as police chief in the town of Iron River and the village of Waunakee and dean of criminal justice at Fox Valley Technical College.

Roberts served as East Troy interim police chief from August to January, Weter said.

At the time, the village’s long-time police chief had just retired. The village was working with a private consulting firm, Criminal Justice Associates, to create a management report to update the department, Weter said.

Roberts enacted the recommendations in the report, working on organization and staffing changes, facility and equipment needs and changes in how evidence is handled. He brought training up to state standards, Weter said.

He also assisted in the hiring of the department’s new chief, Alan Boyes. Boyes started Dec. 17, but Roberts stayed on until Jan. 12 to help bring the new chief up to speed.

“It’s been a smooth transition,” Weter said.

The Milton Police Commission would like Roberts to help in its search for a police chief, too, Chairman Stephen Tupper said Thursday. The commission has not decided if it also will hire a private consulting firm, he said.

Roberts will give a presentation to the city council in open session at its 6 p.m. Tuesday meeting, the city news release said. The council will consider terms for a contract in closed session that night.

The police commission will interview Roberts in closed session at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 20, to decide if it wants to appoint him interim chief.