Village welcomes new chief, bids farewell to loyal leader

After 33 years of service with the Saukville Police Department, Jeff Goetz retired as chief on Friday, May 18.

“I’m happy that I had a great career here. I was lucky to have dedicated elected officials and administrators who were pro public safety,” he said, and also thanked his department’s staff, which he said is second to none.

His successor, Robert Meyer, was sworn in during the Saukville Village Board meeting on Wednesday, May 16. 

“I’d like to thank the Village Board for having the confidence to put me into this position,” Meyer, who joined the department in 2006, said. “I owe a huge thanks to Chief Goetz because he taught me so much in the short time I’ve had to work with him hand-in-hand. 

“I tried to take in as much as I could from him because he’s an extremely intelligent individual and an excellent leader.”

According to Village President Barb Dickmann, the transition between police chiefs is a natural segue as the village moves forward.

“Rob has throughout his career with us excelled in everything he’s done,” Dickmann said. “He’s challenged himself to learn and move upward. His appointment as police chief makes the most sense to the Village Board and I’m excited to be working with him.”

Goetz is currently pondering what to pursue in his retirement, but the first thing he knows he will do is go on a fishing trip in Land O’Lakes.   

“I want to take some time away to do a little decompressing,” he said.

Goetz, who had been chief since 2013, replaced Saukville’s longtime police chief Bill Meloy, who Goetz said was his mentor throughout his career.

Goetz said much has changed in the village since he joined the department on June 19, 1985, noting the eastside commercial corridor didn’t exist at the time, and there were fewer residents in the community. 

“We made some really good strides here at the Police Department,” Goetz said. “It took our entire staff to get behind the mission, and we all shared the same vision.”

He said one of the greatest challenges as chief was dealing with the opioid crisis.

“That has affected every type of income level in the country,” he said. “In my opinion, for Saukville and Ozaukee County, about 80% of all property crimes are directly related to the opioid problem, whether it’s stealing cars at night, shoplifting from the businesses or other types of burglaries. It’s going to be a long road to solve that problem.”

But no matter what problems the department faces in the future, Goetz said there is no question Meyer will do an excellent job as chief.

“His personality and leadership skills were meant for a top role in the department,” Goetz said. “He’s taking over at a time when the department is in a good place because we have a great village administrator (Dawn Wagner) and excellent officials.”  

He also said he will miss serving as police chief but he won’t be a stranger to the community.

“I’ll still be around so I can continue the friendships I made during all these years,” he said.