OFFICERS PRAISED FOR BUSTS

Force targeted local drug dealers, put a dent in drug trafficking

MONTELLO - When Sheriff Ray "Rick" Fullmer asked members of the Marquette
County Board for 10 grand last year for a special project, they agreed
without question.

Board members didn't need to quiz Fullmer about what he planned to do with
the money, said Don Wilson, a member of the county's public safety
committee.

"He has a well-run department. The committee allows the sheriff to do what
he has to do to get things done," Wilson said.

The money was put to good use.

Fullmer and his deputies, along with members of the Westfield Police
Department, the Central Wisconsin Task Force, and the Wisconsin Department
of Criminal Investigation conducted an undercover operation at two county
schools that netted 18 defendants charged with more than 30 drug counts.

The operation, targeting drug sellers at Montello and Westfield high
schools, put a dent in drug trafficking in the county, Fullmer said.

The county board commended Fullmer and his department recently for that
success, as well as others that targeted adults involved in drug activity,
broke up a theft ring, and also for the work of an officer who solved
several arson cases.

What's particularly noteworthy, Wilson said, is that Marquette County is
poor. The population is about 15,000 and the median income is $31,818. That
compares to the median income in the state of $42,169.

Money isn't everything, Chief Deputy Kim Gaffney said. Police work is about
using your head, "dogging it," and taking opportunities that come up
unexpectedly.

The undercover operation in the school was in the works for a year.

It went smooth. A female officer, posing as a student, infiltrated Westfield
High School and within a week was able to determine who the major drug
sellers were, Fullmer said.

The sheriff's department has 10 patrolmen and three detectives. Managers,
jailers and clerical staff bring the total number of employees to 37. The
department's annual budget is about $2.5 million.

Fullmer capitalizes on the smallness of the county and the accessibility of
officers that make the department more effective, he said.

He has a 1,000-member-strong special deputy organization, hand-picked
helpers who keep on eye on things. They don't carry guns and they're not on
the payroll, but they make a difference.

More than once he's been glad of that, he said.

"We made a half-million (dollar) drug bust in Neshkoro because a neighbor
lady told us she saw a guy back a truck up to his shed in a way she'd never
seen before," Fullmer said. "That piece of information gave us the edge we
needed to get the search warrant."

Fullmer admitted the idea for the citizen deputies came from his
grandmother.

"We'd go for a drive in the evening and she'd say, 'Oh, there's a different
car over at the neighbors. I wonder who that is,'" Fullmer said.

The contributions made by alert citizens have an impact, especially in a
poor county, Fullmer said.

He tells his citizen deputies to report anything that makes them think, "Oh
geez, that's weird. I want to know about it,'" Fullmer said.