The law enforcement profession has enjoyed a partnership with Special Olympics for many years. In this episode of the Wausau PD Podcast, Lieutenant Nate Stetzer and Officer Nick Stetzer (yes, they are twins) sit down to talk about their involvement with Special Olympics of Wisconsin and how that relationship has changed their lives.

Special Olympics was founded in 1968 with the mission, “…to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”

The Wausau Police Department is honored to support Special Olympics of Wisconsin. If you would like to learn more about how to get involved in this great cause visit https://www.specialolympics.org/get-involved?locale=en. To support Lt. Stetzer as he represents Wisconsin on an international level at the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy, go to https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/FinalLeg/NateStetzer

Happy Podcast Friday! We now have about 6 months of biweekly podcasts under our belt, so we thought we would share a bit of a mash-up for today. In this episode, you'll find excerpts from each of the previous conversations we've had so far. We have lots of great things going on at the department, and we hope these episodes give you a glimpse of that!

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Facebook, and other major platforms.

Happy Podcast Friday! Our uniformed patrol officers do an awesome job responding to approximately 40,000 service calls each year. But what happens when a case requires further follow-up and specialized training to see it through? In this episode, Capt. Nathan Cihlar speaks with Detectives Jim Martin & Nick Walters about their careers. Find out how their paths led to the Investigations Bureau, what challenges they can face when digging deep into a complex incident, and what keeps them motivated to see a case to conclusion.

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Spotify, and other major platforms.

Happy Podcast Friday! The main ingredients that make the Wausau Police Department effective and an awesome place to work are the people that work here. In this episode, we were able to catch up with Officer Claire Ostrowski to learn more about her. Although she was hired in 2020, Officer Ostrowski came to Wausau PD with several years of experience from another agency. An instructor, trainer, and all-around solid patrol officer, Officer Ostrowski has been a great addition to our department and community.

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Facebook, and other major platforms.

Two weeks ago, we were scheduled to sit down with a couple of School Resource Officers (SROs) and our newest therapy dog, but we had to reschedule. Well, this week came through and Lt. Pauls caught up with Officer Koua Thao and Officer Nick Stetzer w/ his new K9 partner, Timber. They talked about the work an SRO does in the schools, and the inception & development of the therapy dog program. Enjoy!

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Facebook, and other major platforms.

In this episode of the Wausau PD podcast we chat with one of our newest officers, Garrett Johnson, and his current field trainer, Cody Holder, to talk about the department's field training program. You'll hear some perspective on what it's like to adjust to a new career, how our field training program is designed to prepare new officers for solo patrol, and what field trainers are looking for in a trainee. You just might get the itch to change careers as well!

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Facebook, and other major platforms.

Join Capt. Ben Graham as he speaks with two members of the Wausau Police Department's chaplain program. What is a police chaplain? What do they do and what don't they do? Find out how our department and community are better served by having this awesome program in place.

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Spotify, and other major platforms.

Hey everyone, it's another (every other) Friday, which means it's time for the next episode of the Wausau PD Podcast!

Riding on the heels of some friendly PD vs. FD rivalry, Chief Barnes sat down for an in depth conversation with Wausau Fire Department Chief Jeremy Kopp. (With a name like that, you'd think he was destined for police work!) Chief Kopp talks about his journey to the Chief's office and the critical work performed by the fire department.

The Wausau PD Podcast is also available on YouTube, Spotify, and other major platforms.