Article features former Joplin police officer

The first days on the job for new Onalaska, Wisconsin Police Chief Jeff Trotnic, a 20-year veteran of the Joplin Police Department, are chronicled in an article in today's LaCrosse Tribune:

While Trotnic had 20 years on Joplin’s police force, he said coming into a different community has made him feel somewhat like a rookie. He not only had to learn the new department, but a whole slate of new laws and municipal ordinances.

“It’s just getting to figure out how things are done here,” he said.

But Trotnic said the biggest challenge has been making time to get to know his officers. “I try not to forget what it’s like to be a uniformed officer on the road,” he said.

That’s why on Christmas morning, instead of staying home with family, he took his youngest daughter to the station to greet the 6 a.m. shift with doughnuts.

“It was a lesson to Aubrey not to forget those who have to be out there,” he said.