WATERMAN — Jeff M. Wig has been sworn in as the new police chief in Waterman following recent leadership changes in the department. Chief Wig spent nearly 24 years with the Sycamore Police Department, retiring almost a year ago. He said his focus will be on building relationships with residents and maintaining a strong community presence.
“It’s community-based policing. It’s getting to know your community, interacting with them, being out there with them, and then navigating the challenges with the training standards board and mandates and unfunded liabilities and things like that. So it’s a lot smaller, so it’s a lot more condensed, but in the end, it’s all about the same job,” he said.
The new Chief noted that the department faces challenges common to small agencies, including staffing, training requirements, and costs tied to equipment such as body cameras and data storage. Wig said he plans to work with officers and the community to maintain safety in the village.