WELCOME!
I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about my re-election campaign, and hope you are as proud as I am of the accomplishments YOUR Sheriff's Office has achieved during my first term.
The last four years have been filled with many challenges. However, through the collective efforts of over 150 dedicated coworkers, I'm proud to share that we've accomplished, and far exceeded, every campaign promise I had set in 2018. This was a collective effort and I'm honored to highlight those achievements throughout this website.
In addition to what we've already achieved, below I lay out our goals and objectives for the next term. These are the issues Fond du Lac County continues to face, and I'm dedicated to keeping these front and center over the next four years.
When I took office in 2019, I inherited an office that was already accomplished and well respected by the citizens we serve. Today, after four years of remarkable progress, we stand as an even stronger, well trained, better equipped Sheriff’s Office tasked with protecting Fond du Lac County 24/7/365.
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As your elected sheriff, I don’t take your vote for granted. I hope to have earned and maintained your trust, and ultimately your vote, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve as your Fond du Lac County Sheriff.
~Ryan
CURRENT NEWS
5.25.22 - Ryan Announces Bid for Re-Election
MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cell: 920-579-4612
Email: waldschmidtforsheriff@gmail.com
Website: www.waldschmidtforsheriff.com
Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan F. Waldschmidt Announces Bid for Re-election
Today, May 25, 2022, I announce my bid for re-election to the Office of Fond du Lac County Sheriff. Serving as your sheriff for the past four years has been the highest honor of my professional career, and I’m eager for the opportunity to continue that service for a second term. Despite the many challenges we’ve faced in recent years, I’m proud to share that not only have we accomplished every campaign pledge I set forth in my first term, but we have far exceeded them. Our achievements are made possible by the brave men and women I work with each day who serve our citizens with the utmost professionalism and integrity. That being said, our work is never done. As I begin my 24th year at the Sheriff’s Office, I look forward to continuing to address the many challenges we face. I’ve enjoyed meeting and listening to members of our community discuss their public safety related concerns. If re-elected, I will continue to keep highway safety, mental health and combatting drugs key priorities, as well as ensuring our Sheriff's Office remains trained and equipped to adapt to the unknown challenges that lie ahead.
I am humbled by the overwhelming support this community has shown our Office, not just during my first term, but over the course of my entire career. I look forward to maintaining your trust and support in the future and would be honored to have your vote on August 9, 2022.
I encourage you to visit our comprehensive website at www.waldschmidtforsheriff.com to learn more about our first term accomplishments and next term goals. By continuing our work together, we can keep Fond du Lac a safe place to live, learn, work and play.
NEXT TERM
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Below are just a few of the issues we will continue to prioritize to keep Fond du Lac County safe,
if I have the honor of being re-elected as your Sheriff for a second term
Drugs continue to be one of the most important issues we face in law enforcement. In the last 12 months, over 104,000 people (the entire population of Fond du Lac County) died of drug overdoses in the United States. The flow of illegal drugs into our country from outside the United States is tremendous, and tragically many of the illegal drugs we seize now contain traces of the deadly drug fentanyl. Although we have grown our drug detection resources and treatment opportunities here in Fond du Lac County, we must continue to develop our multi-faceted approach to combatting the drug crisis through the following:
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Grow the K9 program to further expand our ability to locate illegal drugs (and many times the weapons that come with them) on our streets, in our schools, and smuggled into our jail and local prisons. Our K9s have proven invaluable in our efforts to locate drugs, and expanding the program will provide even more coverage on patrol shifts.
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Continue collaboration with the Drug Court Program, providing low level offenders the opportunity to change their lives and make better decisions in the future, while still holding them accountable for their past actions.
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Institute a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program in our jail utilizing a $150,000 grant awarded to our county. Inmates suffering from opioid and/or alcohol addiction will be eligible to participate in this program where the prescription medication Vivitrol is administered to combat their addiction and reduce chances of relapse upon release from jail.
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Assist the Drug Free Communities program with the implementation on new initiatives they are proposing to combat drug and alcohol abuse in Fond du Lac County.
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Utilize settlement funds awarded to Fond du Lac County from our lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. These funds will expand treatment opportunities for those addicted to drugs in our community, and particularly for those in our jail.
We respond to thousands of mental health related calls every year and house many inmates in our jail who suffer from mental health issues that resulted in criminal behavior. We’ve made great strides in expanding mental health treatment services to inmates in our custody, and Fond du Lac County provides a wide variety of services to citizens who are seeking help. These initiatives have shown promising results, and we have seen success with many of the individuals we’ve assisted over the years. Moving forward, we will continue to stay focused on helping those struggling with mental health issues in our community, and expand our ability to assist them by:
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Embedding a psychiatric social worker into the Sheriff’s Office for the first time ever. This social worker will collaborate with Sheriff's Office staff as well as law enforcement agencies throughout the county. Working together, they will provide assistance to those in crisis sooner by aligning them with services that will help them through the struggles they face.
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Growing the Release Advance Planning (RAP) Program in our jail, which connects inmates to services they will need to maintain a stable lifestyle and avoid repeat offenses upon release.
Although motor vehicle fatalities skyrocketed across the United States in the last two years, here in Fond du Lac County our numbers have remained low. Keeping fatalities low can partially be attributed to our ongoing strong highway safety campaign, however, until we reach zero fatalities, we have not reached our ultimate goal. Our Sheriff’s Office coordinates a county-wide highway safety task force with other agencies who work together to enforce traffic violations on our highways. We will expand our highway safety efforts through the following:
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Increase the number of radar trailer sign boards deployed around the county. These devices alert drivers to their speed on roadways prone to excessive speeding or in high-crash areas. Residents can request the radar trailer be placed in their neighborhoods, and having three will allow us to fulfill all the requests quicker.
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Expand our Crash Reconstruction Team capabilities through the use of new and cutting edge technology which will allow the team to gather evidence at fatal crash scenes faster, get highways re-opened sooner, and ultimately build stronger cases against those who have injured or killed innocent victims.
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Utilize new data analysis software to predict future crash locations based on historical crash data. We can use this data to preemptively deploy additional high visibility patrols to these areas in an effort to prevent crashes before they occur.
The core of the Fond du Lac County jail was built in 1956 and has housed inmates every day since. The county board has expanded the jail three times since 1956, however due to aging infrastructure, and inadequate space for medical, mental health, detox, and other inmate classification housing options, the county board has begun the process of planning for the future. A careful and thorough analysis of all aspects of the current jail and operation should be completed, and community input gathered. By starting now, the county has time to plan and budget appropriately, make sound decisions, and not be forced into rushed or costly decisions due to capacity constraints or failing infrastructure.
We’re blessed to employ the dedicated staff we have, and thankfully we’re not facing the severe staffing shortages many other agencies around the country are experiencing. However, with today’s lucrative job market and low unemployment rates, we are competing for talent like never before. I will continue to collaborate with the county board to appropriately compensate the hard work of our staff, and I encourage our community to keep letting our employees know their work is appreciated and doesn’t go unnoticed. Additionally, I will continue to advocate for appropriate pay, top notch equipment for them to do their job safely and effectively, and continue to have their backs, especially when they are forced to take necessary action to protect themselves or others.