Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series examining the life of those who enforce the law and those who break it.
University of Wisconsin Police Department Officer Mark Silbernagel said most of the boys in blue will tell you they have always wanted to be on the force. Silbernagel admits he “always knew” he wanted to be a police officer, but it was not until after an internship studying criminal justice he knew for sure police work was for him.
Silbernagel, a Madison native and UW-Eau Claire alum, played football in college and looks like it. However, his large size does not overshadow his goodhearted attitude and community-mindedness.
Silbernagel switched from the Corrections circuit near Milwaukee to join the police force at UW about five years ago.
“Everyone I’ve ever talked to said the [UWPD] serves with respect and integrity,” Silbernagel said, adding those attributes of the police force here were the deciding factors to come back home. “The people [in Madison] are just great.”
He added being an active police officer changes the dynamic of the nature of work.
“I love the proactive-ness of the job,” Silbernagel said, adding police officers can change the community and make it a better place, instead of just being reactionary to crime.
Silbernagel also said the diversity of his job and the people he meets keep him wanting to stay, adding that if he won the lottery, he would still work on the campus police force.
“It makes me a better person,” he said.
He relayed a story saying there could be a similar complaint he would attend to “about a hundred times,” but every single time is different.
During a ride-along and tour of the UWPD station Friday night, Silbernagel made several routine contacts, though all were unique.
Silbernagel said he is a fan of police spoof hit “Reno 911!” and comedy “Super Troopers,” even though they might impose some negative stereotypes.
“That stuff’s funny,” Silbernagel chuckled. “I think being [with the police] you can even get more out of it.”
Silbernagel also said he brings in tapes of the television show “Cops” to show officers in training what not to do.
At around 10 p.m., Silbernagel was called to the Natatorium fields, where eager Better than Ezra concertgoers and other All Campus Partiers became too rowdy and could have caused injury to one another. Although the police confiscated several beer cans without writing tickets and the All Campus Party supplied its own security, the main point of UWPD’s appearance was solely to make its presence known. Silbernagel said the front rows were really getting to be a dangerous place to be, and sometimes just the poise of official police officers at events settles down the crowd.
“It was fun, until the cops came,” one of the band members said.
Silbernagel just shrugs, saying police often get guff but most everyone knows the importance of police in the community.
Although Friday was relatively uneventful, Silbernagel stopped a UW freshman living in Ogg Hall who was visibly inebriated. He eventually blew a .15 on a Breathalyzer after saying he only started drinking an hour before. Silbernagel did not issue the ticket on the scene but said the UWPD will contact the student in a few days to most likely issue a ticket.
“We find it’s more effective that way,” he said.
Silbernagel also came in contact with two marijuana smokers conspicuously lighting up outside Sellery Hall. The cooperative students were not arrested, and the possessor of the bowl received a ticket for paraphernalia.
“Any time a substance [impairs] judgment, it poses a safety concern,” Silbernagel said on the ride back to the station.
Although UWPD officers like Silbernagel sometimes issue tickets to deserving but disgruntled students, their ultimate goal is to better the campus community. Instead of high-speed police chases, UWPD officers can often be seen patrolling the halls of the Memorial Union or checking in with house fellows in UW’s residence halls.
