You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM 975 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
During this interview I'm talking with Wood County Sheriff Sean Becker on April 6th, 2026.
Thank you for joining me, Sean, to bring the community an update from the Wood County Sheriff's Department.
Always a pleasure.
Thanks for being here.
So you had a late night last night.
Let's start with that because I'm sure many people heard about the incident going on in Marshfield and teams from our area were called
in
to help.
Yeah, as all of our law enforcement.
agencies do, especially within the county, we work together.
And they had an incident that had went on for several hours that involved the deployment of our special response team.
And our team is combined with the Marshall Police Department's team.
And the situation arose to an incident that required that just for public safety.
And that incident went on for several hours into the early
Morning hours of today with a peaceful resolution once a primer was set up around this individuals residents Our negotiators along with marshal police department to talk to this individual for several hours to try to get him to
surrounded himself.
There were several charges that he was facing from domestic abuse to a felon in possession of a firearm.
There was some information that he might discharge the firearm.
That's what rose to the level of needing our special response team.
Happy to report that he did surrender without incident and without anybody getting hurt in the community No law enforcement officers were hurt and the individual wasn't hurt as well He's now in custody in our jail and we'll face corporate proceedings as we move forward
Okay, and just for those of us who you know we see those negotiations happening on on TV shows and things like that Are you out there with the blow bullhorn?
Are you talking on a cell phone like how do you how do you
communicate a little bit of a combination?
You know, during the time he was communicating with negotiators and they're doing their best to try to get him to come out.
They lost communication with them for a time for several hours or an hour or so.
And then people on the perimeter and having our armored vehicle there.
Marshfield Police Department also has an armored vehicle having them positioned to keep, you know, our officers and deputies safe and then communicating on site with them.
like, hey, you know, come out, you know, we have kind of a script that we follow, you know, to come out with it, you know, peacefully, you know, but it's a pretty big disruption.
When you have people on site, you know, trying to communicate with the person inside and he's not cooperating, you know, look at all the residences around there, you know, you have to evacuate people that are close by.
So it's a pretty big disruption, you know, and then you're talking blocks.
you know that had to be streets had to be blocked and you know fortunately this was happening you know late at night into early morning hours of this morning where you don't have a lot of that.
you know, vehicle traffic or pedestrian traffic, people are told to shelter in place.
But if they're, you know, within a few residents, you know, we require them to evacuate for safety purposes.
But it's a pretty big disruption.
Yeah.
So that
late at night, were you,
were
you able to put them up at a hotel or
most times you'll find somebody to stay with.
But if it came down to that, we could do that.
Okay.
Well glad that everybody yeah me
too
is safe and that you're again.
I hope you get a nap today
Eventually it's just you know something to bring up to you know the listeners How important it is to have those strong working relationships, you know within especially your law enforcement agencies We combined our special response teams, you know several years ago, and we trained together a lot and then if we do have
an incident like this.
Those are the first calls that we make.
And as an administrator, as you look at this situation, you have to think of the future.
The longer it goes, you can't leave your staff there on site.
You have to start thinking about, OK, who do we bring in to replace the people on scene?
Do we need different negotiators coming in to talk with this individual?
It might be a short.
event, you know, for the community seal, it took a couple hours, but if you look at the planning process of it, okay, the incident happens, you know, public safety is first.
You know, we need to get a primer set.
We need to evacuate people.
We've got to make sure that people are safe, and then you kind of, you know, the situation continues from there.
So we were...
Thinking last night into the early hours when this individual wasn't communicating with us or what's their plan?
How are we going to address this and then what are we going to be doing with staffing and even through the whole?
Incident we are replacing people on the perimeter and then thinking okay What is the next special response team that we're going to need as this goes on?
You know and then you look at you know our relationship with the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department.
They have a special response team And then I was thinking okay in Marchfield
Marathon County Sheriff's Department, you know, so it's a as you plan it goes on and unfortunately, like I said, he gave up
and Surrendered
correct.
Well, that's the the best possible outcome and nobody was injured so well and along with that last month when you were in we were talking about the 15th annual crisis intervention training class that just happened last month with
What was the ice storm or the snowstorm that we had in the midst of that?
But the training still went on
it did You know, and that's a great segue into maybe
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month.
And as people have gotten to know me throughout, you know, especially the years of as sheriff and as a supervisor, you know, the, you know, the past and the platform for mental health means a lot to not just me personally, but, you know, our department and seeing how things have evolved throughout, you know, my career that goes almost three decades and how the focus has been now mental health.
you know, our wellness, you know, our staff's wellness, and then, you know, how can we, you know, as law enforcement officers, get trained better, and that's where CIT comes in, and I'm very proud of the class, you know, 15 years now, and I know I started about, you know, talked about how to evolve, but just to see it continue, and it'll continue for...
You know, it'll keep getting bigger.
Well, and you
have a lot of other agencies coming in
from
other parts of the state.
Yeah, it's just something that, as you can tell, I'm very proud of.
But, you know, like I said, you look at all the mental health initiatives that has, you know, law enforcement has taken, you know, just on the patrol side of things.
Now you look at the corrections side of things, which is huge, you know, and the inmate programming that we have been doing now with the new facility.
It's been very fortunate.
Just on the chaplain side of things, we were very lucky to have one of our county board members take that over as a volunteer, Donna Rosa.
About a month ago, we had to replace our previous person due to health reasons.
And she stepped up because she just started to come into the jail just to provide a chaplaincy just because of her background.
And she really likes it.
And then that kind of grew into something where now she's overseeing at least that portion of our jail programming.
There's a lot of things that we do within our jail that providing made programming and another huge highlight that was kind of a dream of ours to build those.
relationships within your county departments, because you're all working together and to see one build throughout the years with human services, and now providing our mental health services within the jail.
That to me was a game changer.
It really was, and I have to commend human services, especially Katie Mylock.
to help facilitate that and make that happen where they're providing the services within the facility because that's so important for us because that streamlines, you know, opportunities for individuals that are struggling within the facility.
Do they stay within the jail?
Are they struggling that much?
They need to go to a mental health facility, a secured facility somewhere else.
And knowing that and that relationship, I really think saves lives.
I really do.
If you look at the history of our facility, our previous facility, where there are a lot of struggles where we weren't doing a good enough job, focusing on mental health, and that showed.
You know, it really did.
Not only the facility was unsafe, but, you know, we didn't have that in issues that we do now, and I think you've really seen a big difference.
But, you know, the highlight for me is, in the month, it's been named it, where years ago, that focus wasn't there.
Right.
You know, and it is now.
It
was more of a taboo topic that people didn't talk
about.
No.
And, you know, the view, which is very unfair to individuals when they were struggling through a crisis years ago,
you know, you're looked down upon.
Now, I, you know, I personally feel when people take that initiative to get help on their own, that needs to be celebrated.
You know, you weren't forced into a situation.
You, you realized yourself or, you know, somebody close to you, you know, made you realize it.
And then you made that decision like, okay, what are my resources?
You know, who can help me through this?
through this crisis, you know, and whether it's a counselor, a therapist, you know, you're going through your church or a peer, that needs to be celebrated.
It's one of the biggest rewarding things that I've seen, you know, throughout my career, is that change, seeing that stigma change where...
you're hearing it more, you know, whether it's on the news, you know, just being proactive in communities all across not just Wood County, but the state.
It's very rewarding to see that, you know, because for me, you know, all the things I've mentioned, I've taken advantage of that and I'm a better person for it.
So it's really nice to see that stigma.
change, especially throughout my career and how important it is with our wellness as law enforcement officers, corrections officers, taking care of ourselves is very important because if we don't, how can you expect us to take care of the community that we serve?
That's a very good point.
Well, let's take a pause here, Sheriff Becker.
And to hear from our sponsors, I'm Melissa Kay talking with Wood County Sheriff Sean Becker, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
Welcome, you're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa Kay bringing you news in our community.
I've been speaking with Wood County Sheriff Sean Becker and where we left off, we were talking about how the stigma around mental health and mental health crisis has changed and the open conversations that are happening.
You've said that you find those rewarding as you've had a 30 year career in law enforcement.
Yeah,
I agree.
You know, just
Highlights, you know we brought up CIT and and and then the community support, you know getting grant funding like through legacy to have a position at the Sheriff's Department where it's somebody that focuses
solely on on mental health and you know as an investigator and Doug Christiansen started that position and now Alicia Brondage is in it and shout her happy birthday Celebrate her birthday in the last few days doing a great job, and then the relationships that you know we You know we developed through you know these initiatives, you know like I had mentioned human services and you know that CIT course and how that
It's just a great story that I love to talk about.
If somebody brings it up, I could sit and talk about it for hours.
And like I said, I brought up Doug and Alicia, Katie Sizz, and many, many others.
Sheriff de Fabio is now in a position at the department where it's a deflection position that really also works on that mental health side of things where people are in crisis, got in trouble.
Can we work through that?
maybe divert these charges that you might have been arrested or cited on or something like that.
I just like the movement that you're seeing across the country just on the focus on the law enforcement side and that their relationship building and that focus on mental health has been really rewarding to see.
Well, and something that I've always wondered about and struggled a little bit with is when
Law enforcement gets called in and it's a mental health crisis and and that's a lot that is being asked of you as a law enforcement professional Who's maybe you've taken some training in crisis intervention, but that's not your profession.
No, we're not social workers, but sometimes we have to pretend to be
Just like bartenders, right?
Absolutely
You know, my dream would be someday if somebody's in crisis and, you know, they're comfortable with getting help that they go to a hospital, you know, where you don't have to call law enforcement and then, you know,
the decisions made that you're going to be you know committed somewhere and then you lose freedom and then you're being handcuffed and then you're being transported again for your own safety but you know but that
takes its own mental toll
does and how does that individual feel about that law enforcement officer when I called for help you know but some situations do arise to that and that's one thing that we've seen throughout
you know, the career and how that has changed where a lot of people in, you know, the early days of my career got committed.
And, you know, now, you know, looking at it, they probably shouldn't have been.
Maybe there could have been other opportunities, you know, a safety plan working with, you know, other stakeholders in the community that we've, you know, built those relationships, but they weren't there then.
It was a system that, you know, was evolving and changing.
And I agree with now.
You know, I really do.
You know, if we could have, you know, that welfare check come in and we go make sure the scene is safe for everybody and then hand it off to somebody that, all right, this is the train level that I have.
Now we've got somebody here that, you know, can take this.
step further and help that person through that crisis.
There will be situations that we will have to deal with and people will get committed because it's unfortunately gotten that level, but I like to take it a step back and like, all right, let's not get to that point and really rely on our hospitals to when people are struggling and they feel comfortable with.
going there.
And I do believe that's changing that.
And those relationships, those professional relationships with our hospitals are building to go that direction.
I just hope someday that's just the way it's going to be.
go there, hey, I need help.
And then, all right, we've got people on staff to work through that assessment and get the help that that person needs.
Well, that that delves into a little bit of our health care crisis issues in this country and people being to be able to afford health care.
We won't get into that in this conversation.
Let's not.
Let's instead talk a little bit more about the National Corrections Officers Appreciation Week one.
Well, this.
airs next week.
Right now we're in the week May 3 through 9.
And we want to honor and appreciate our corrections officers because that is a tough job and they are pretty isolated.
Yeah, they're part of the team.
You know, unfortunately, sometimes, you know, they might get ignored, but they have a huge part of our team.
You know, you're dealing with people that
Somewhere at their worst and you have to be very cautious and protect yourself But you also have to look at you know, how can we as corrections officers help the individual that are in custody?
But it's not an easy job and you know in my opinion and every day's corrections officer today to me
But here's a week that has been designated for them and we've been throughout the week providing extra meals and appreciation that we can so they know that we all, even as administrators, appreciate the hard work that they do and they're part of our team.
It makes me really think about our county and what we've done and what the support that we've given.
A new facility.
You know, we talked about that.
Our county board was, was behind that.
I'm very proud of all of them for working together and make something happen that needed to do.
And, you know, and that's part of for our corrections officers, um, you know, and paying them, you know, looking at, um, the pay rates, um, in comparison, not just other counties, but the state prison system and, and moving the pay up, you know, um, should be more, but it's better than nothing.
You know, um, it's, it's a tough job.
when you're dealing with people that just don't want to cooperate and you have to find ways to work with them, so they do cooperate while they're in custody.
Most of the people within our jail will return to the community and having that belief, which I've really seen throughout the years of that inmate programming that
that mental health part of things within the jail.
People are believing it and that's where we can make a difference and it starts with the staff believing it and working with people that are at their worst.
So if you get a chance and you know a corrections officer, reach out and say thank you or
just
a pat on the back.
Any words of encouragement are always helpful.
Absolutely.
It's not an easy job.
Let's touch on a couple things happening on June 13th
in
our last few minutes here.
Back the Badge Press, Bench Press Meat
is
happening on June 13th at the Anchor Bay Bar and Grill.
People can still enter.
The deadline is June 8th, so you have practically an entire month here.
So what is this about?
Yeah, I used to compete in Bench Press competitions.
several years ago, then COVID changed everything for, you know, for all of us, you know, for, you know, any events.
And then we were looking at
We've done fundraisers for, you know, our canine unit, our special response team.
And so, hey, maybe why don't we try bringing this back?
And then Anchor Bay thought, hey, great idea.
Let's do it.
So this will be the third annual back-to-back bench press meet.
We're raising money for our special response team in the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial in Madison.
So just looking to get as many lifters as we can.
Being it's our third year, a few highlights.
There's a...
Wisconsin Rapids, a fireman that is very strong.
I know there's been some stories out in the media on him, Dylan West, and we have the baddest badge part of the meet.
So whoever, you know, benches the most, bench presses the most, we'll get this belt that says that, you know, you're the baddest badge.
done it twice and he came out last and he's one of our attempts for our special response team and he says I'll comment so he'll be defending his title and he bench presses his goal he told me last night or this morning 450 pounds well that is a lot
That
is a lot of weight.
And he doesn't weigh a lot either.
But you know, there's been a lot of other local people.
You know, Wisconsin Rapids, police officer Nick Brockman, also bench presses close to 400 pounds.
Our own justice aren't as well over 300.
Brandon Christiansen well over 200.
Shane Heiser, good friend of mine, works for DCI over 300.
And you'll see some other people that have committed to coming.
He's not a law enforcement officer, but a good friend.
Jamie's Wears does over 500.
Wow.
And you're looking at some, you know, just I'm telling you from the experience that I've had throughout my years of being involved in these types of events.
That's a lot of weight for people you're pushing.
So you'll see.
If you want to see something pretty unique that's different and whether permitting will have a great out, you know vent outside on the on the stage where bands are Works out great.
We'll have somebody singing the national anthem.
Hopefully we'll have a flyover.
We're working on that with Dr. Blank
It's okay, you get a pass.
All right, thank you.
Anyway, and then, you know, the sponsors that come up and help us out with the mean, you know, Roosh companies, they were new this year, Trinity Services, Herbs Construction, they've been sponsoring the meet every year.
It's my family's business, so I feel like they have to.
Venture Architects, Sand Mills Group, they're very instrumental in...
building the jail, luckiest downtown, been always very supportive.
And many other people that are, you know, local that come forward and help us, you know, make this happen for, you know, for a special sponsor team.
So it means a lot.
That sounds like a fun event.
That is Saturday, June 13th
from
11 to two, roughly at Anchor Bay Bar and Grill.
People can come and just observe,
right?
Absolutely come serve and then afterwards anchor Bay's got a band set up so we can stay and hang out and let's keep our fingers crossed so we have great weather to be outside
And another event that's taking place on June 13th is the Andrew Mueller Memorial and for those who may not remember Andrew Mueller died of a peanut allergy on
November 25th, 2024.
So just a year and a half ago, but Andrew's parents have worked really hard to try to pass that all first responders can carry epinephrine on them when they're responding to a situation.
They have it on them and can administer it because that could have saved, potentially could have saved his life.
Right.
You know, shortly after that unfortunate passing, the parents really took this on.
and started working fundraising efforts to, you know, focus on law enforcement agencies, especially the rural ones.
And they've provided, you know, the service now, the EpiPens.
Commonly known as yes.
Yeah We've had it for several months now.
We're Wisconsin Raps PD has Grand Rapids Police Department in Wisconsin Rapids Police Department already had a save with it and this was provided by the Mueller family So it's tough to talk about just because you know it wasn't that long ago that the family lost Andrew But they've taken this on and their their goal is to get it with
Every law enforcement scene in the in the state and they've equipped their they're working with now with the Portage County Sheriff's Department.
That's gonna happen very soon They did provide it for the Adams County Sheriff's Department.
So please come out and support that event.
You could do both events, you know the Andrews event goes on at Golden Sand Speedway on the 13th really all
day and into the night.
It's a car show.
And I got a sneak peek recently.
Well, actually last Saturday at some of the vehicles that we're going to be there.
And then we did a commercial Sheriff Lucas and I did a commercial with, with Mark Mueller, where we had pulled them over at the race race track.
I'll check it out.
It's on, on Facebook, trying to make it, you know, just so that awareness thing and have some fun with it and have them, you know, pull them over and have, you know,
It was just a fun video to do for circumstances.
Sounds entertaining.
Yeah.
And a great cause to
both of
those things to come out to on June 13th.
And then I'm sure more information will be posted
on
Facebook pages.
Absolutely.
So keep your eye out for those things.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, as always, Sheriff Becker, this conversation goes by so fast.
We have so much to talk about, but I very much appreciate you talking
with us
today.
I'm Melissa Kay speaking with Sheriff Sean Becker of the Wood County Sheriff Department.
Thank you, Sean.
You bet.
Thank you.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 AM, 975 FM WFHR.
