The Beaver Dam City Council approved updates to the city police manual and adopted several new policies, the council said.
A staff representative described the packet as a mix of policy updates and new policies; council members voted to authorize the updates and adoption of the new entries. The motion passed on voice vote.
Among the items discussed were updated guidance on off-duty or extra-duty assignments for officers, crowd-control guidelines describing roles and lines of notification for events or demonstrations, a placeholder SWAT policy in case the department later forms a SWAT team, and the state alert-name change from a “golden alert” to a “green alert.”
Council members asked for clarification about the off-duty/extra-duty language and whether the new entries would be provided in full for review; staff said they could distribute copies to members who requested them. The council also discussed the challenge of sustaining volunteer-based specialized units, with staff saying recruitment and retention had previously limited a standing SWAT team.
The council approved the motion to update and adopt the listed policies; no ordinance or statutory citations were offered during the discussion. Council members said they would be supplied written copies of the proposed manual updates for more detailed review if desired.