website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Dawn Learned
Support Person of the Year Award – 2016
To: Jefferson County
Chiefs & Sheriff Association
Date: December 16,
2016
Ref: Support Person of the Year Award – 2016
I am grateful for
the opportunity to write this letter of nomination for Watertown Police
Department "part-time" employee Dawn Learned. Ms. Learned currently serves in a variety of
roles within the Watertown PD and neighboring law enforcement agencies.
Ms. Learned’s pathway into policing began in the fall of 2009
when she participated in the Watertown Citizens Police Academy. Upon completing the academy she joined the
Watertown Police Auxiliary on June 9, 2010. The Police Auxiliary is made up of non-sworn uniformed
employees that augment our sworn officers in a variety of roles to include
special events such as parades, sporting events and festivals. Their service has expanded to patrolling city
parks; locking public bathrooms and will soon further expand to include
authority to issue municipal citations.
Captain Learned
quickly established herself as a first-rate Auxiliary Officer and was promoted
to Auxiliary Sergeant on March 9, 2011 and Auxiliary Captain on January 1,
2014. In her
capacity as Captain she supervises and schedules twelve Auxiliary Officers for
over twenty annual special events. She
also participants in the hiring process for new auxiliary officers and conducts
field training for the recruits. She
devotes countless hours of her own time scheduling and assigning Auxiliary
Officers to events which occur almost weekly and sometimes with little notice.
In June of 2010, Ms.
Learned joined The Jefferson County Emergency Communications (JCEC) and is
known as “J82”. JCEC’s primary mission
is to assist law enforcement with traffic and crowd control at serious
accidents and large fires. They secure
crime scenes and search for missing persons when requested to do so. JCEC also provides volunteers at parades,
festivals, walk / run events and community celebrations anywhere in the county.
Ms. Learned was
hired full time as a Telecommunicator for the Dodge County Sheriffs
Office on October 16, 2012. She is a
highly skilled Sheriffs Office employee who also
represents her agency as a member of the Dodge County Honor Guard.
In 2012, the
Watertown Police Department funded part-time Telecommunicator positions. The positions were created to reduce over-time
and allow for full time workers to take vacation time or report for military
obligations. Ms. Learned was hired as a
part-time Telecommunicator and frequently signs up for open shifts in the
Watertown Communications Center. She
came to the position highly skilled and immediately filled a void for an
overworked Comm. Center.
The department also
had a desperate need for substitute crossing guards. The city has nine crossing guard locations
that parents and small children depend on in the morning and afternoon each
school day. It seems weekly substitutes are needed to cover a crossing.
Ms. Learned stepped
up and helps as a substitute crossing guard as well! Ms. Learned can work any of the crossings and
is always responsive to phone calls, text messages or e-mails.
In addition, Ms.
Learned is the head of her Watertown Neighborhood Watch program, keeping her
neighbors informed of local crime-trends and maintaining open communications
with our police department. Dawn and her
husband Terry are the parents of Jordan age 20, Justin age 15 and Lauren age
13. Their son Jordan Learned is an
active member of the Auxiliary Officer program as well.
I wholeheartedly
recommend Dawn Learned for this recognition. She is a behind the scenes professional that
never seeks credit, does her job to the best of her ability, and is a solid
role model for all of us in public service. Ms. Learned’s sense
of citizenship extends far beyond Watertown and includes both Jefferson and
Dodge County’s. She is an extraordinary
skilled individual who continually renders noteworthy work in a variety of
capacity’s to the Dodge County Sheriff, Jefferson County Sheriff, Watertown
Police and hence our community as a whole.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Chief Timothy Roets
History of Watertown, Wisconsin