Sheriff Shawn Becker and Lieutenant Nate Dean Pt. 1

Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday, January 6th, 2025.

Have your host James J. mail off here and yes, it took me a second to 25.

It did. It's take a little getting used to it. We are spending the entire hour with our

good friends from the Wood County Sheriff's Department with us. We have Sheriff Sean

Becker here with us today. Sean, always good to see him. Great to see you too. Thanks for

having us. You brought a new friend. We have Lieutenant Nate Dean with us as well.

Nate, thank you for being here. Yeah, thanks for having us.

We want to start off thanking our great friends over at Wisconsin Rapids Community

Media being here as well to record this and put it on their YouTube page. Do yourself a favor.

Get to YouTube. Type in your search bar. Wisconsin Rapids Community Media and

subscribe to the great work they are doing. We appreciate the gang over there.

Guys, thanks so much for being here today. Sean, I know that we usually have a couple

of places we like to start. Where would you like to begin today? Happy New Year.

Happy New Year. Yes, yes. Happy New Year.

2025, boy. Time just flies. I go back 20 years ago. I didn't take a link to be here.

It's weird to say 2025, but hey, we're here as far as the holidays.

Pretty uneventful for us, which is a great thing we were talking this morning about

just Auto BI REST. Did we have any Auto BI REST on New Year's Eve and we did not?

So it tells me that I believe people are being smarter, you know, looking out for the other

resources that, you know, if you're going to go out and have a good time, you know, get somebody

that can drive you home. I know there's ubers or I don't know how, if uber is pretty popular around

here, but I know it's Steven's point it is, but just, you know, I really feel that it's a compliment

that people that do go out on that evening and take care of themselves and others.

And we didn't, it was an uneventful night, which is great.

Yeah, I certainly not asking you to comb through your whole career every New Year's Eve or

anything like that, but I don't remember many like that. And I do think that that's pretty

noteworthy. I'm glad you started off here and everything because I really think that that

not only, you know, certainly it's hard to compliment people for doing what they're supposed to do.

Like that feels a little weird and everything to be that, you know, hey, nice job doing what you're

supposed to do here, but at the same time, we do know our area, we know our culture here in Wisconsin

and some of these things, to be making this progress should be noted. We don't get anywhere without,

you know, noting the baby steps that get us to police places. That is noteworthy.

Yeah, I really do. I feel the same way, you know, with people that are, like I said, if they're

going out and having a good time, they're making their arrangements to make sure that they get

home safe. And that keeps everybody else safe, including, you know, our deputies that are working,

you know, that shift, you know, the night shift on, or you know, New Year's Day or one other

might be the people are paying attention. Hope you guys had a good holiday as well throughout

the holidays and everything and a good New Year's. And we're kicking off 2025. We got the city,

got our president. We got a new jail. We open that thing up already. That president is sitting

there and it is waiting for us to be able to, how did that go? Because we haven't talked since the

first. I almost forgot about this. I headed in my notes and everything. Nice work. Nice work

with the ribbon-cutting celebration and everything up there. I saw thanks to Wisconsin's Revs

community media because I was not able to be there. I got to see the video of that. You did a

really good job. I do want to shout out Lance as well, who didn't seem like he was supposed to be

talking, but got up there and did a nice job as he does. Funny story, Lance, tried to defer

to somebody else at the department. And we thought of immediately Ted Ashback,

our jail captain, who's been extremely instrumental with the whole process. And Ted said, no,

I don't want to do it. We weren't going to make him, but it was kind of, hey, Lance, I will speak,

but let's let the people that are very involved with the project and between Ted and then Ruben

Van Tassel, our maintenance supervisor, they crushed it. This whole project is making sure that

what we wanted, what we needed in this $92 million project was taken care of. And they both did

just a phenomenal job, but no, that was really a surreal moment. Our honor guard that Nate's

part of came in and started out the ceremony by posting the colors. And that went over very well.

You can just tell with you had a packed house of people. And that just started things off. And then,

you know, then you have Laura Valentine, again, I just love to talk about her and the jail ad hoc

committee. You know, it just gives us time to reminisce about the start point, you know, of,

you know, just the discussions on the need and then to get to here where we're just about ready

to occupy it. It's hard sometimes not to get emotional just because of what it took. And the whole

theme was teamwork. You know, that's what it was all about. It wasn't about me. It wasn't, you know,

all about our department either. It was about the community and the need and, you know,

seen Laura in our county board members, you know, look at the need. They weren't convinced. And Laura

will tell you that, you know, that, hey, after, you know, a presentation about the need from, you know,

our architect from venture, not that they did a bad job in their presentation. It was just,

you know, I don't know if we really need it. And then with Lance putting together that committee

of people that really weren't very supportive, then it just grew. And the work that all of our

county board, you know, did through this whole process, you know, they did their job. They went

out in the community. They talked about what they're seeing and explained the wise. And that's what

you, you expect out of your elected officials. And another thing is, you know, it didn't matter what

side of the aisle they're on. They didn't dig in and say, no, because I'm this or that, they looked

at what the needs were. And that's something that I loved to brag about. And just to have that

small part of it and to watch it, just to say, hey, we'll answer the questions. You know, we know

that we need it. Then we've had for a long time. And going back to Ted, you know, about six plus

years ago, when we started that conversation, and he educated me because my background is not

corrections, you know, and so not that I didn't know much about it, but, you know, he explained,

you know, all these reasons why, you know, and we're just waiting for that, that change in our

department. And then it just built from there. And so for, you know, for me, being that small part

of it, it was really quite an honor just to watch it all happen. And, you know, doing all the GL

tours, we've done a lot of them. Yeah, imagine, imagine, I'm not complaining about it. It's just,

like I said, it gives me that opportunity to brag about the people that made it happen. And even

to see the support. And it's just huge, you know, going through the ribbon-cutting ceremony,

a huge thank you to the heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce to be there and set it up,

but to see how many people were there. I think one of the things that happens, and this is just

life and how it works and everything, but we get caught up in the moment at times, and we get caught

up in hyperbole at sometimes in those things. But this is one of those situations, young old,

no matter who I talk to in the community, the more people than not understand that there was a

time, and not that long ago, where this seemed very far-fetched, that this seemed like a very far-fetched

idea, and was not going to get up the flagpole. And here we are, where it's not only, you know,

happened, we're getting closer and closer to it opening up. Right. No, it's just for a moment.

Last week we did tour for some representatives of Porgy County, because they're in the same position.

And they've kind of stalled a bit, but that was fun to bring them through, answered a lot of

questions, Ted and I, you know, answered a lot of things for them, and then kind of brag, like,

hey, look at what we did, and then what we accomplished, and I know that they have the land purchased,

and they're just kind of stalled, and they need to get to talk more people, kind of follow what we did.

You know, I think they'll get there, you know, an unfortunate thing for them is,

the longer you put it off, the more you're going to pay. And it's going to cost your taxpayers

even more money. And so the needs there, they've justified it for very, very similar reasons why

we did. And they're just in a position that I hope that they move forward with it, because the

community deserves it, and so does, you know, not just a law enforcement community, but everybody does.

And it's something we've touched on too, and now we're in the process of people getting familiar,

you know, the people getting familiar with the jail, getting more used to it, and getting some

training in there, right, right? Yeah, that's the next phase that we're really going through.

It's putting together the training program for the new facility. It's completely different than

what we have right now. And we had our own open house for our staff, like the week before,

the ribbon cutting ceremony, and I was extremely proud to, I had no idea how many people were coming.

We had an idea, you know, kind of an estimate, but boy, I think we had over 200 people, because I

said, you know, hey, bring your family, bring your friends that want to see this. And you can,

you can have free reign of the building. And I think a few people got lost here in there, but

it was, you know, I thought a really good moment for our department to see what, you know,

what we're going to get very shortly. And I think it was eye opening, especially for some of our

corrections officers that hadn't had the opportunity to walk through yet and show people what we're

going to be dealing with. So that'll be the next phase. And Ted's doing a nice job of putting

that together, you know, probably take at least once, hear the keys. Sam's group has been awesome

to work with, they're a project manager. And once they turn the keys over to us, then that

training process will start. And that'll probably happen once in the next couple of weeks. And

we're probably estimating, you know, a good month at least to make sure that our staff is going to be,

you know, comfortable with running the facility. I can't wait until we don't have to house inmates

and we'll pack anymore. But, you know, it will be patient. And once we're ready to roll, we will

do that. But it's something that I know that maybe people out there, and hey, I hope you don't have

to deal with this. But we've talked about so many of the positives and the reasons for this,

how much this helps. Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time with my dad. And we got talking about

the new jail a little bit, along with a million other things. But this came up. And one of the things

he brought was the inmates being housed in other areas. And it should never be forgotten. And I know

it's not with you guys or anything. But I think overall in society, sometimes we forget the purpose

of prison of jail of these things. And it is to more than times than not, rehabilitation,

and to get people back into society. And how we stop the revolving door, or the oldest conversation

you and I have been having. And one thing my father noted was the idea of an inmate doing so much

better when they have a support system. And when they are able to reach that support system,

whether it is having them stopping by and seeing them or anything like that on visit times,

or something like that. Now, that's a lot harder to do when an inmate from here is in Wampak.

And so certainly the overall purpose of this, and I'm not even arguing with, is tax dollars

and saving our community that and the impact on our economy. But as a side story here, I will say,

one of the positives of this will probably be that. It's almost hard. I don't have numbers for

you or anything like that that I can, but I'll put my name on this that I think that that is

going to be a positive of that'll be coming from this too of inmates who are doing their,

having accountability and they're doing what they should be doing and everything and paying for

their crimes. Well, also understanding, hey, their loved ones can actually come and see them now

and show them encouragement. And hey, there's another day, there's tomorrow, you can get out of here,

you can rehabilitate and all those things. That encouragement, you can't put a price on that.

No, you can. So something like that, there's so many other things that are going to be coming up.

And this is just one little thing. There's going to be other stuff that comes up, I think, over

the years of, wow, I'm glad we have this new jail that are going to remind us of that.

No, and that's a great point that you're making those 75 people that are housed over in

Wapak and they've been a great partner. They take advantage of a situation. No, they had a

facility that was there to house other people's inmates and we're not the only sheriff's department

that houses people over the porch coming does as well. But they had the facility to house them and

then there's a cost associated with that and do the inmates over there that are from what county

get all the services that we provide within our facility. No, but that's not a knock on Wapaka.

I mean, they do have things there that are available to help people through while they're doing their

time. You bring up a really good point on visitation. One thing with technology and that's another

thing that this facility, that we invested in, what's available and what we can

will fit for us is visitation and how we do visitation. COVID changed some things. A couple of

things, I thought my head, the work release program, the Hubert program, that all had a stop during

COVID and then you had to find out different ways of how you can accommodate people that do qualify

for a work release program. And fortunately, we've had electronic monitoring going on for quite

some time. And so the shift was, okay, we don't want people coming in and out of the facility,

we want to limit that as much as we can. And already having the electronic monitoring program,

the cost associated is essentially the same. So what we did is just expand in our electronic

monitoring program and really eliminated the work release program of people coming to and from

the jail. All right, we got you an ankle bracelet program. So that was a big change that we're

continuing to do. And then the other thing is visitation. Obviously, when COVID was going on,

we were, you know, there were not any visits going on. And that is hard on an

image because you do still want to connect with the outside. And what's evolved with technology

is video visitation. And that's something that was a big investment with this facility where

inmates can can do a visit almost any time, you know, that way in a really morning hours. But,

you know, while they're, you know, in the common area of their cell, their cell block,

their kiosks where you can, you know, call and do a video visit with somebody they might be at home.

Or if somebody wants to come and visit an inmate, they can do it for free at the sheriff's

department where you have a visitation boost, but it's all by video. So that's been a change that

all, you know, all jails are going through in prisons that, you know, the visitation can

be really be done right from the cell block. And we also have tablets that the inmates can get

if they qualify for it where you can do it right from your tablet as well. But I do tell people,

there's a cost of associate with that. And you have to look at it. It's very similar to like

doing a collect call, collect, you know, phone call. Well, there's a cost of associate with that as

well, unless people come to the facility, then it's free. You can do the video visit from the

facility. But the couple things that, you know, we had a look at, you know, when we were going through

the building phase, the project of, you know, technology and that's been a big, a huge investment for,

you know, for this new facility. As the buildings opening up and stuff, we'll be talking more and

more about it. But a very encouraging for our community. And again, thanks to you.

Nice job with the presentation opening the ribbon cutting all that. It's good work. Like I said,

it's a real moment. I'm very proud of our county board and all the people out of part of it.

We're speaking with Sheriff Sean Becker right now. And Sean also brought in Lieutenant Nate Dean

with us. And Nate, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate the time.

Yeah, absolutely. Sean, when did you bring Nate out of here other than for me to make him uncomfortable

and put him on the spot or anything like that? Well, you know, I saw him in his office this morning.

I'm like, hmm, so the idea came up and I didn't force him here. But I'm like, hey, you want to go on

the radio show with me today and he didn't say no. And you know, like he felt he could have said no

because here's a note for you. I'd radio days. I guess he got a high. Right. That's a good idea.

No doubt what those what those days are. Oh, I just thought it's a good opportunity. Nate's been with us

for several years now. It's an awesome job with a lot of the programs that he oversees with the

department. He finally got the day shift last year. You've been working nights for a while.

He's younger. We hired you when I wrote down 2013. And I remember his interview. Nate's not

from the Wakani area. I think he was a lot, did kind of like what a lot of us did when he started

our careers off. We just threw applications anywhere and everywhere. And we're so many gave

a stop opportunity. That's where we started our career. He's from O'Clair and had an awesome

interview. And I'm not just saying that. Okay. But he really set himself above the other candidates

that some were, you know, working with us part-time or whatnot. And he got the opportunity and he

took it. And he decided to stay here. And I'm very proud of him for that because I know that that's

not easy. Because I know what I did. You know, I worked on the Sockbury Police Department for a

couple of years to give my experience because it's so competitive back then to get into law enforcement

especially in Central Wisconsin. And then then came back and got very lucky that Wood County hired

me. And so that fear was with Nate when he got hired here. Do we take a chance on him? He did

an awesome job. We had a great background. I'm like, I bet she's going to want to go back to O'Clair.

And you know, he seriously thought about it. And I have no problem with that because that's what a

lot of people do. And you know, hey, it worked out for us that he decided to stay. And he's been

promoted a couple times. And he's very well-respected at our department. And he's a great leader.

He's a proud, a part of our admin team. Without prying too much, Nate. And again,

thanks for being here. Appreciate the time and the service in our community and everything.

What was it about the area that made you want to stay?

Yeah, you know, initially, like Sheriff Becker had said, you know, in 2013, very

competitive in processes to get into law enforcement. We've seen a change in that now.

Where applications are down and it's a little bit different. But back then, it was very

competitive and openings were few and far between. And through college and in internship program with

the O'Clair County Sheriff's Department, that's where I knew that I wanted to work for a Sheriff's

Department. And then let's pull up the internet and see what are available in Wood County happened

to be a Sheriff's Department that was hiring at the time. And really just working and getting to

one, get into the department and then two, you start learning the department and getting familiar

with the area, getting familiar with the department. It becomes a second home. And this area grew

on me quick and became my second home like Sheriff Becker had said, I'm from O'Clair. But we really

work in a great area right here in Central Wisconsin. From the north end of our county to the south

end of our county, it has a lot to offer. And really just saw as a great opportunity to stay here.

I ended up meeting my wife, who's from Marshfield. So that helped. That's why it's here.

There we go. There we go. That helped a lot of things down and keep you here in the area as well.

But it's been a great department to work for and a great area to work for.

And this is a familiar story. Sean has brought in a number of people and everything. And every

once in a while there is somebody who is not from our area. But when they become a transplant,

like myself and my family and some others and everything, where we're maybe from here,

but we get here. And there's something about this area that makes you want to stick around,

makes you want to plant roots and just really build from here. Whether you stay here for a long time

or not, it stays with you this area. There's something to that, I think. And some that locals can

take a lot of pride in, I would think, in those things. Absolutely. We got to go to break here

in just about a minute. So before that, though, I do want to ask what got you into law enforcement

in general? What got you to want to dedicate your life, your career to this?

Ultimately, started at a young age and it started with just community engagement in Eau Claire.

The local police department, sheriff's department, state patrol, just community outreach events.

Back then in our elementary school, the earliest memory of me wanting to be in law enforcement

was through the DAIR program. And the DAIR program coming into our elementary school. And that

used to be a very prevalent program. It's not something you see a lot anymore. But that is probably

my earliest memory of wanting to be, hey, that's what I want to do. And from then, it stuck with me.

And when I had the opportunity to do my first ride along with the Eau Claire police department,

that really got me hooked, you know, to be able to see the job in person, experience at first hand.

And from there, it was just a wild ride, you know, ever since ride alongs with multiple agencies,

doing anything and everything I can to just experience the job, get experience. And in college,

I worked for the Eau Claire police department in a community service role, which really helped

both in college and then for that application process after it just gained some experience

in law enforcement without having that full-time job yet.

It's not surprising yet. It gets me every time how many people that I asked that question

in law enforcement, and it's, you know, at a young age, something hit them. And they wanted to

follow this path, follow this career, really speaks to it, especially as it's one thing to,

when your kid want to do this, but as you get older and you learn more and more about that job,

and your focus doesn't change. This is still what you want, even with all of that. I think that

that's very noteworthy. And it speaks highly of the job. And as you touched on a little bit here,

too, as applications are down, one of the things that I try to do with this segment is reminding

people that, especially our younger listeners out there, this is an incredibly rewarding career.

And it's not a job. And there's so many people nowadays that are looking for careers, not jobs.

This is a career. And this is one of the more rewarding things you can do with your life,

let alone your work life. Absolutely. I mean, it has its ups and downs. Don't get me wrong,

but there are so many rewarding things in this career. And those community events that I remember as

a kid and those outreach that I had from law enforcement back home sticks with me to this day.

And that's really what drives me to continue to do those community outreach events,

continue to expand our footprint as, you know, as the sheriff's department in our community,

and making sure that we're being involved as much as we can. We'll talk more with you,

sir. We'll talk more with Sheriff Becker as well. In a moment, when we come back with more

midday magazine here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR, locally grown radio.