GREEN BAY, Wis. — Officer Jake Wallner has been on the Green Bay Police Department for the past seven and a half years.
He started in patrol and has worked into a job in the department’s professional standards division.
“No day is like the previous,” Wallner said. “Every time you come into work, you’re expected to do police work, but the kind of police work you’re doing is always going to be a surprise, which is a lot of fun.”
As part of his current role, Wallner does background investigations and helps onboard and train new officers.
It’s just one of the specialties available at the department.
“I’ll come back to the teaching where I get to share my experiences in the job with others,” he said about the highlights of the job. “Maybe something I experienced, or something I learned, can help someone else be successful somewhere in their job. Whether it’s something as simple as a traffic stop or something as complex as an OWI or some sort of tactic, I taught them that saved them from serious injury or some sort of fight in the long run.”
The department has about 190 sworn officers.
Lt. Kristopher Thoreson has been with the department for 11 years. He also works in the professional standards division.
“We’re looking for the best candidate is really what it boils down to,” Thoreson said. “Someone who is open, able to communicate effectively, and also has the ability to have some presence out there. And just a shared love of the community.”
Thoreson said recruitment is a steady process.
“Because we’re always going to have retirements,” he said. “That can always change, people can stay longer and some people can decide to pull the plug, but we’re going to be always looking to fill those positions.”
Wallner said he likes the size of the city and the department.
“We’re big enough to have an NFL market. We’re big enough to have your critical incident, high-risk, weapons calls,” he said. “But we’re also a small enough department where I may not hang out with everyone at work, but I know everyone at work.”
More information about careers at the Green Bay Police Department can be found here.
