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Jeffrey Trotnic, 41, who brings more than 20 years of service — as an officer, chief of a small Missouri police department and retired lieutenant with the Joplin (Mo.) Police Department — kicked off his first day with the department by taking the oath of office during a brief ceremony at Onalaska City Hall.
Trotnic officially took over for acting Chief Tim Hauser, who was appointed when former Chief Randy Williams retired in May 2007, after a two-year battle with many of the department’s patrol officers.
“This is the final stage of a fairly long process,” Onalaska Mayor Mike Giese said as the ceremony started.
While the turmoil within the OPD calmed with Williams’ departure and Hauser taking over as head of the department, city leaders and Trotnic know there is still work to be done.
Giese called Trotnic the right fit for the city, and Mary Anderson, chairwoman of the city’s Police and Fire Commission, said the city got the right man for the job.
Before he applied for the job, Trotnic read about the turmoil, officers’ complaints and Williams’ attempts to fire officers. And, he has said, his desire to help the department heal was one of the reasons he pursued the job.
Now that the job is his, Trotnic will work to help mend the fences, heal the wounds and rebuild morale in the department, he said.
“You have to be open to ideas other than just your own,” Trotnic said Tuesday. “You don’t implement change just for the sake of change. And if you do make changes, you have to explain to the people affected why you’re making the changes.”
Trotnic said he has a “participative” management style and said getting input from the members of the department, city leaders and community residents is crucial to making the department work.
Trotnic, his wife and two of the couple’s three daughters recently moved to Onalaska from Duenweg, Mo.
With their eldest daughter attending college in Missouri, Trotnic’s two younger daughters — a junior in high school and fifth-grader — marked their first day of school Tuesday in Onalaska.
“We’re real happy to be here. It’s such a beautiful community,” Trotnic said. “We bought a house and have had the chance to meet some of our neighbors. Now we want to get to know more people in the community.”
