Clerks, poll workers to receive de-escalation training

As last week’s melee at the Port Washington Common Council illustrated, tensions are high when it comes to politics, whether local, state or national.

To help local clerks and pollworkers prepare for the upcoming election season, the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office will hold threat assessment and de-escalation training.

“We just want to help them recognize and do simple things to help them feel safer,” Sheriff Christy Knowles.

Knowles said the training offers tips on things as simple as where to park and recognizing weapons and defensive tools already at hand.

“The pen holder on your desk is full of potential weapons, for instance,” she said.

While no incidents have been reported at polling places similar to what happened in the Port council chamber last week, County Clerk Kellie Kretlow said she and municipal clerks want to be prepared.

“Nobody has been threatened, but everyone wants to feel safe,” she said.

Last week, three people were handcuffed and removed from City Hall during the melee, then ticketed for disorderly conduct,  Police Captain Craig Czarnecki said.

The incident happened after a crowd of about 50 people, most of them opponents of the Vantage Data Centers’ Lighthouse Campus, loudly urged recalling Mayor Ted Nietzke and other officials during the public comment portion of the meeting, despite the fact they had been asked at the onset of the meeting to be respectful.

But Kretlow said what inspired her and the other clerks to seek the training was not last week’s incident but that County Treasurer Sandi Tretow had sought the training for her staff.

Although there were no serious incidents, some of Tretow’s staff members felt uncomfortable after dealing with people upset about their taxes, Kretlow and Knowles said.

“It’s just the times we live in,” Kretlow said.