Community Service Unit

The Community Service Officers (CSO) unit is made up of full-time and part-time non-sworn police employees who are charged with providing vital support services for the patrol unit as well as selected special services within the city. The unit is under the supervision of CSO III Heather Novak and CSO III Brandon Stopka. The unit is responsible for downtown parking enforcement, managing and maintaining the department’s evidence room, overseeing fleet maintenance and repair records, downtown foot patrol, public assistance calls, UTV patrol, park patrol, and various other tasks assigned by the department or the city. Our CSO Unit is also in charge of our municipal animal containment center where they manage and care for found and stray animals within the city. 

Most of our CSO Unit is made up of law enforcement students who are looking to gain on-the-job experience while still enrolled in school. They gain experience in working within a police department, helping and communicating with the public in a law enforcement setting, and various problem solving skills that come with working in the field. Formally Security Officers, the unit has recently been rebranded as CSOs to aid in recruitment and ease of future hiring for those seeking a sworn law enforcement position after college. Historically, most of our department and some surrounding agencies have recruited from this pool for sworn positions.